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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 Balch (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 Balch. 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 southwest 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 south.

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 south 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.

Balch is located in Jackson 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 Jackson County: Craighead, Cross, Independence, Lawrence, Poinsett, White & Woodruff.

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

  • Jackson County     (The home county of Balch)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Amagon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Algoa
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Remmel
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Beedeville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Beedeville is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beedeville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 97 people
    • Grubbs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Auvergne
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Airport Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Airport Village is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Airport Village
    • Shoffner
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Weldon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Gourd Neck
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Island Town
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Island Town is located in Jackson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Island Town
    • Newport
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Craighead County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Obear ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Obear is located in Craighead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Obear
    • Cash
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Cash is located in Craighead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 359 people
    • Egypt
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Egypt is located in Craighead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Egypt <1>
    • Jonesboro
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bono
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Bono is located in Craighead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bono
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,595 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bono <1>
  • Cross County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Hickory Ridge
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherry Valley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Bay Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Bay Village is located in Cross County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay Village
    • Vanndale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Wynne
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Levesque
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Independence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Oil Trough
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Thida
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Cord
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Newark
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Magness
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Magness is located in Independence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magness
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
    • Charlotte
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Charlotte is located in Independence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlotte
    • Sulphur Rock
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Sulphur Rock is located in Independence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Rock
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 458 people
    • Rosie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Lawrence County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Alicia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Saffell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Minturn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Minturn is located in Lawrence County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minturn
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 104 people
  • Poinsett County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Fisher
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Fisher is located in Poinsett County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
    • Waldenburg
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Weiner
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Harrisburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Greenfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • White County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Bradford
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Bradford is located in White County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradford
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 736 people
    • Russell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodruff County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Balch, with the one closest to Balch listed first.
    • Morton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Riverside
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • McCrory
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Patterson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Patterson is located in Woodruff County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patterson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 388 people
    • DeView
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Augusta
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Bemis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Colona
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Flynn ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Flynn is located in Woodruff County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flynn
    • Howell
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Howell is located in Woodruff County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howell
    • Gregory
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Balch ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Balch.

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

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

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

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

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

  • Fisher
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Fisher is located in Poinsett County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
  • Remmel
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Grubbs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Hickory Ridge
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Auvergne
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Shoffner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Weldon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Weiner
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • McDaniel
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • McDaniel is located in Poinsett County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDaniel
  • Newport
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Tupelo
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Diaz
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Diaz is located in Jackson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Diaz
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,208 people
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Tilton
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Tilton is located in Cross County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tilton
    • Tuckerman
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jacksonport
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Balch ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Balch.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Balch, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Balch.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

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

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 Balch, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Balch) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.