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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 Elkins (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 Elkins. 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.

Elkins is located in Washington 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 Washington County: Benton, Crawford, Madison & Adair (OK).

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

  • Washington County     (The home county of Elkins)
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elkins, with the one closest to Elkins listed first.
    • Bethel Heights
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bethel Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel Heights
      • Bethel Heights is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,970 people
    • War Eagle
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Silver Springs ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
      • Silver Springs is located in Benton County
    • Lowell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lowell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
      • Lowell is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,876 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lowell <3>
    • Cave Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cave Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Springs
      • Cave Springs is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,737 people
    • Prairie Creek
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Rogers
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Puckett ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Puckett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puckett
      • Puckett is located in Benton County
    • Highfill
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highfill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highfill
      • Highfill is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 916 people
    • Logan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Logan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logan
      • Logan is located in Benton County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Logan
      • From Elkins to Logan
    • Avoca
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Bentonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Carroll County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elkins, with the one closest to Elkins listed first.
    • Mundell ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mundell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mundell
      • Mundell is located in Carroll County
    • Winona Springs ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Dryfork
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Metalton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Crawford County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elkins, with the one closest to Elkins listed first.
    • Bidville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bidville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidville
      • Bidville is located in Crawford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bidville
      • From Elkins to Bidville
    • Winfrey
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Locke
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Chester
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chester have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chester
      • Chester is located in Crawford County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 159 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Chester <3>
    • Anna ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anna have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anna
      • Anna is located in Crawford County
    • Mountainburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Stop ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stop have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stop
      • Stop is located in Crawford County
    • Lee Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lee Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Creek
      • Lee Creek is located in Crawford County
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elkins, with the one closest to Elkins listed first.
    • Cass
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Mountain Top
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Elkins, with the one closest to Elkins listed first.
    • Wesley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wesley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
      • Wesley is located in Madison County
    • Thompson
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Thompson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
      • Thompson is located in Madison County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Thompson
      • From Elkins to Thompson
    • Georgetown
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Crosses
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Crosses. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crosses
      • Crosses is located in Madison County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Crosses
      • From Elkins to Crosses
    • Whitener
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hindsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Delaney
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Combs
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Huntsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Brashears
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Witter
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Witter have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Witter
      • Witter is located in Madison County
    • Saint Paul
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Elkins ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Elkins.

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 Elkins covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Lewis Family Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lewis Family Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lewis Family Cemetery came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2479715 <5>
  • Stokenbury Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stokenbury Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stokenbury Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Boone Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Boone Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Boone Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Burkhead Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burkhead Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burkhead Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Salem Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Salem Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mt. Olive Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kings Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kings Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kings Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Reese Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Reese Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Reese Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Zion Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Zion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Round Mountain Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Round Mountain Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Round Mountain Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (299 more) ...
    • Shumate Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shumate Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shumate Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Liberty Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Liberty Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Liberty Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Wesley Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wesley Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wesley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<7>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Elkins had railroad service and no post office. In 2020, Elkins had a population of 3,664 people.

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

  • Sulphur City
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sulphur City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur City
    • Sulphur City is located in Washington County
  • Harris
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harris. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
    • Harris is located in Washington County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Harris
    • From Elkins to Harris
  • Durham
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Wesley
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wesley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
    • Wesley is located in Madison County
  • Baldwin
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Baldwin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baldwin
    • Baldwin is located in Washington County
  • Thompson
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Thompson. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson
    • Thompson is located in Madison County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Thompson
    • From Elkins to Thompson
  • Wyman
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyman
    • Wyman is located in Washington County
  • Summit ‑ Historic
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
    • Summit is located in Washington County
  • Arnett
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arnett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arnett
    • Arnett is located in Washington County
  • Goshen
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goshen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Goshen is located in Washington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,985 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goshen <3>
  • Drakes Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drakes Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drakes Creek
    • Drakes Creek is located in Madison County
  • Hazel Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Elkins ...

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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Elkins.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Elkins. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Elkins and those printed in the larger area surrounding Elkins.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<6> of Elkins.

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 websites either 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 Elkins:

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

The official website for Washington County: www.co.washington.ar.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Elkins) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Elkins. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.0028, Longitude: -94.0087    
<7>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 Elkins, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025