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 Atkins Lake (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 Atkins Lake. 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 Atkins Lake ...
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.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Atkins Lake: Atkins Lk.
- While the name of this community is Atkins Lake, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Atkins Lake may originally have been Atkin's Lake.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Atkins Lake might be written as Atkin Lake.
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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Atkins Lake is located in Jefferson County.
To see how the shape of Arkansas' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Jefferson County: Arkansas, Cleveland, Grant, Lincoln, Lonoke & Pulaski.
Below are the counties that are near Atkins Lake. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Atkins Lake:
- Jefferson County (The home county of Atkins Lake)
- The following are listed by their distance from Atkins Lake, with the one closest to Atkins Lake listed first.
- Madding
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Madding is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madding
- Noble Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Noble Lake is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble Lake
- Rob Roy
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Rob Roy is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rob Roy
- Moscow
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Moscow is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moscow
- Cornerstone
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Cornerstone is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerstone
- Altheimer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Pine Bluff
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Richardson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Richardson is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardson
- Tamo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Tamo is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tamo
- Pinebergen
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pinebergen is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinebergen
- Wabbaseka
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Wabbaseka is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabbaseka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 213 people
- Sherrill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Sherrill is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherrill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 71 people
- Pastoria
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Pastoria is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pastoria
- Arkansas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Atkins Lake, with the one closest to Atkins Lake listed first.
- Humphrey
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bayou Meto
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Bayou Meto is located in Arkansas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bayou Meto
- Stuttgart
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gillett
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Almyra
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Cleveland County
- The following are listed by their distance from Atkins Lake, with the one closest to Atkins Lake listed first.
- Rison
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Staves
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Staves is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Staves
- Toledo
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Toledo is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toledo
- Pansy
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Pansy is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pansy
- White Oak Bluff
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- White Oak Bluff is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak Bluff
- Annover ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Annover is located in Cleveland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annover
- Desha County
- Mitchellville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Mitchellville is located in Desha County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mitchellville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 327 people
- Grant County
- The following are listed by their distance from Atkins Lake, with the one closest to Atkins Lake listed first.
- Center Grove
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Center Grove is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Grove
- Grapevine
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Grapevine is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapevine
- Ebb
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Ebb is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebb
- Slabtown
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Slabtown is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
- Cherry Grove ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Cherry Grove is located in Grant County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Grove
- Sheridan
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Lincoln County
- The following are listed by their distance from Atkins Lake, with the one closest to Atkins Lake listed first.
- Yorktown
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Yorktown is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yorktown
- Grady
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Sarassa
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Sarassa is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sarassa
- Crigler
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Crigler is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crigler
- Star City
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Meroney
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Meroney is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meroney
- Varner
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Varner is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Varner
- Palmyra
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Palmyra is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmyra
- Gould
(23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
- Gould is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould
- Population from the 2020 Census: 719 people
- Cornerville
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Cornerville is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerville
- South Bend ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- South Bend is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bend
- Tyro
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Tyro is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyro
- Warrenton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Warrenton is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warrenton
- Lonoke County
- The following are listed by their distance from Atkins Lake, with the one closest to Atkins Lake listed first.
- Coy
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Coy is located in Lonoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 92 people
- Allport
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Allport is located in Lonoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allport
- Population from the 2020 Census: 117 people
- England
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Humnoke
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Seaton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Seaton is located in Lonoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaton
- Keo
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Cobbs
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Cobbs is located in Lonoke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cobbs
- Pulaski County
- The following are listed by their distance from Atkins Lake, with the one closest to Atkins Lake listed first.
- Hensley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Woodson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Woodson is located in Pulaski County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodson
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Atkins Lake, see our County-by-County Page for Atkins Lake.
Cemeteries Near Atkins Lake ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Atkins Lake.
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 Atkins Lake - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Atkins Lake covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Atkins Lake, with the one closest to Atkins Lake listed first.
- Atkins Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Cottondale Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Patterson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Mulberry Grove Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- St. Ruth Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Watt Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Fairfield Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Smith Chapel Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Smith Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Hunters Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Bryson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Prayer Lake Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (218 more) ...
- Cherry Hill Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- St. James Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- St. Peters Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
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.<5>
While we didn't find Atkins Lake in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Atkins Lake.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Atkins Lake, with the one closest to Atkins Lake listed first.
- Fairfield
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Fairfield is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairfield
- Noble Lake
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Noble Lake is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble Lake
- Madding
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Madding is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madding
- Lake Dick
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Lake Dick is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Dick
- Wilkins
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Wilkins is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkins
- Rob Roy
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Rob Roy is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rob Roy
- Linwood
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Linwood is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Linwood
- New Gascony
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- New Gascony is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Gascony
- Cornerstone
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Cornerstone is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornerstone
- Altheimer
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Pine Bluff
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Richardson
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Richardson is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richardson
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Tamo
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Tamo is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tamo
- Swan Lake
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Swan Lake is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan Lake
- Lake Farm
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Lake Farm is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Farm
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Atkins Lake. See our List of 1890's Communities around Atkins Lake.
Newspapers Published in Atkins Lake ...
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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Atkins Lake.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Atkins Lake, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Atkins Lake.
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 Atkins Lake:
- Websites specific to Arkansas
- Pages specific to Jefferson County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Arkansas County
- Cleveland County
- Desha County
- Grant County
- Lincoln County
- Lonoke County
- Pulaski County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Arkansas
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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- Atkins Lake) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | 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 Atkins Lake, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |