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The Commemorative Quarter for Arkansas





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 Big Fork (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 Big Fork. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Big Fork is located in Polk County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Polk County: Howard, Montgomery, Scott, Sevier, Le Flore (OK) & McCurtain (OK).

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Big Fork)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Fork, with the one closest to Big Fork listed first.
    • Board Camp
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Board Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Board Camp
      • Board Camp is located in Polk County
    • Dallas
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Mena
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Potter Junction
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Potter
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Hatfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Vandervoort
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vandervoort have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandervoort
      • Vandervoort is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
    • Wickes
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wickes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickes
      • Wickes is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 741 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wickes <2>
    • Hatton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Rich Mountain
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Cove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Grannis
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grannis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grannis
      • Grannis is located in Polk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 566 people
    • Bog Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Calhoun County
  • Howard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Fork, with the one closest to Big Fork listed first.
    • Athens
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Umpire
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Umpire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umpire
      • Umpire is located in Howard County
    • Galena
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Galena. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
      • Galena is located in Howard County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Galena
      • From Big Fork to Galena
    • Euclid
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Euclid. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euclid
      • Euclid is located in Howard County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Euclid
      • From Big Fork to Euclid
    • Dierks
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Fork, with the one closest to Big Fork listed first.
    • Cox Spring
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Black Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Springs
      • Black Springs is located in Montgomery County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
    • Oden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Norman
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norman
      • Norman is located in Montgomery County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 363 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norman <2>
    • Pencil Bluff
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pencil Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pencil Bluff
      • Pencil Bluff is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pencil Bluff <2>
    • Whitetown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Manfred
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Manfred. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manfred
      • Manfred is located in Montgomery County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Manfred
      • From Big Fork to Manfred
    • Mount Ida
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Ida have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Ida
      • Mount Ida is located in Montgomery County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,005 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Ida <2>
    • Sims
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Caddo Gap
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Ophir
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ophir. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ophir
      • Ophir is located in Montgomery County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ophir
      • From Big Fork to Ophir
    • Hickory Station ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hickory Station have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Station
      • Hickory Station is located in Montgomery County
    • Washita
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Pike County
  • Scott County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Fork, with the one closest to Big Fork listed first.
    • Y City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Y City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Y City
      • Y City is located in Scott County
    • Gate ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gate have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gate
      • Gate is located in Scott County
    • Boles
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Parks
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Harvey
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harvey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvey
      • Harvey is located in Scott County
    • Little Texas
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Waldron
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Nebraska ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nebraska have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nebraska
      • Nebraska is located in Scott County
    • Cardiff
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cardiff. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cardiff
      • Cardiff is located in Scott County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cardiff
      • From Big Fork to Cardiff
    • Winfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Sevier County
  • Yell County
    • Chula
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Chula. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chula
      • Chula is located in Yell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Chula
      • From Big Fork to Chula

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

Cemeteries Near Big Fork ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Fork.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Pleasant Grove Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Edwards Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Edwards Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Edwards Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lower Big Fork Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lower Big Fork Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lower Big Fork Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Huddleston Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Huddleston Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Huddleston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hillside Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hillside Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hillside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cox Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cox Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cox Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cherry Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cherry Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cherry Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Yocana Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Yocana Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Yocana Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wilhite Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilhite Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilhite Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pine Ridge Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Board Camp Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Board Camp Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Board Camp Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Putman Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Putman Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Putman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (221 more) ...
    • Putman Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Putman Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Putman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Rock Springs Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rock Springs Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rock Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Shirley Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)

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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Big Fork had a population of 20 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Board Camp
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Board Camp have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Board Camp
    • Board Camp is located in Polk County
  • New Moon ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Moon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Moon
    • New Moon is located in Howard County
  • Ink
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ink have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ink
    • Ink is located in Polk County
  • Langley
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Hartley
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hartley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hartley
    • Hartley is located in Polk County
  • Black Springs
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Black Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Springs
    • Black Springs is located in Montgomery County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
  • Oden
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Dallas
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
  • Umpire
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Umpire have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Umpire
    • Umpire is located in Howard County
  • Pates ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pates have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pates
    • Pates is located in Howard County
  • Buck Knob
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buck Knob have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buck Knob
    • Buck Knob is located in Scott County
  • Galena
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Galena. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Galena
    • Galena is located in Howard County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Galena
    • From Big Fork to Galena
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Newhope
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Star of the West ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Hopper
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hopper have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopper
      • Hopper is located in Montgomery County

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

Newspapers Published in Big Fork ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Fork.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Fork, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Fork.

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 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 Big Fork:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Fork. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Arkansas: https://portal.arkansas.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<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 from Point A (ie- Big Fork) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Fork. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.4865, Longitude: -93.9687    
<5>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.
<6>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 Big Fork, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025