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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 El Dorado (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 El Dorado. 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 El Dorado ...

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.

In past government published Postal Guides, El Dorado was referred to as El Dorado Courthouse.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named El Dorado. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for El Dorado.

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.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

Neighboring Counties/Parishes ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties/parishes.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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/parishes 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/parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

El Dorado is located in Union County and is the County Seat.

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 Union County: Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Columbia, Ouachita, Claiborne (LA), Morehouse (LA) & Union (LA).

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

  • Union County     (The home county of El Dorado)
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Dorado, with the one closest to El Dorado listed first.
    • Dumas City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Dumas City is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumas City
    • Perdue City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Perdue City is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perdue City
    • Norphlet
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Norphlet is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norphlet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 772 people
    • Sandy Land
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Crain City
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Crain City is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crain City
    • Lawson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Calion
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Calion is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calion
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 440 people
    • Lisbon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Smackover
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Blanchard Springs ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Scotland
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Urbana
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Urbana is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Urbana
    • Junction City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Junction City is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 520 people
  • Bradley County
  • Calhoun County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Dorado, with the one closest to El Dorado listed first.
    • Hampton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Harrell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Harrell is located in Calhoun County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 245 people
  • Columbia County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Dorado, with the one closest to El Dorado listed first.
    • Village
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Calhoun
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Milner ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Milner is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milner
  • Ouachita County
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Dorado, with the one closest to El Dorado listed first.
    • Joyce City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Joyce City is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joyce City
    • Louann
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Liberty
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pace City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Pace City is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pace City
    • Cullendale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Camden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • East Camden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • East Camden is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Camden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 809 people
    • Stephens
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Lufra ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Lufra is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lufra
  • Claiborne Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Dorado, with the one closest to El Dorado listed first.
    • Junction City
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Junction City is located in Claiborne Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Junction City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 557 people
    • Wards Mill ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Wards Mill is located in Claiborne Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wards Mill
    • Summerfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Weldon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Gordon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Union Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from El Dorado, with the one closest to El Dorado listed first.
    • Spearsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Lillie
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Lillie is located in Union Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 122 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lillie <1>
    • Oakland
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Truxno
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Pisgah
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Bernice
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Cane Ridge ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Cane Ridge is located in Union Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cane Ridge

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

Cemeteries Near El Dorado ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of El Dorado.

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 El Dorado - one of the links might be able to help.

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from El Dorado, with the one closest to El Dorado 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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that El Dorado had a population of 455 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, El Dorado had a population of 17,402 people.

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

  • Wesson
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Wesson is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesson
  • Cornie
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Cornie is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cornie
  • Caledonia
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Caledonia is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caledonia
  • Hillsboro
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Hillsboro is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillsboro
  • Champagnolle
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Champagnolle is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Champagnolle
  • Lisbon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Blanchard Springs ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Three Creeks
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Three Creeks is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Three Creeks
  • Shuler
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Shuler is located in Union County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shuler
  • Little Bay
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Little Bay is located in Calhoun County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Bay
  • Wards Mill ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Wards Mill is located in Claiborne Parish (LA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wards Mill
  • Liberty
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Mount Holly
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • New London
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • New London is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New London
    • Spearsville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of El Dorado ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around El Dorado.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of El Dorado. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of El Dorado and those printed in the larger area surrounding El Dorado.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4> of El Dorado.

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 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 El Dorado:

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 El Dorado, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- El Dorado) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.