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 Gainesville (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 Gainesville. 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 Gainesville ...
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, Gainesville was referred to as Gainesville Courthouse.
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Gainesville. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Gainesville.
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 ...
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.
Gainesville is located in Greene 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 Greene County: Clay, Craighead, Lawrence, Randolph & Dunklin (MO).
Below are the counties that are near Gainesville. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Gainesville:
- Greene County (The home county of Gainesville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- Oak Grove Heights
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Oak Grove Heights is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove Heights
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,095 people
- Lafe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Lafe is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lafe
- Population from the 2020 Census: 458 people
- Stonewall
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Stonewall is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall
- Beech Grove
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Beech Grove is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Grove
- Marmaduke
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Paragould
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Crowley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Crowley is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowley
- Bard
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Bard is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bard
- Pine Knot
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Knot is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Knot
- Finch
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Finch is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finch
- Walcott
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Walcott is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walcott
- Delaplaine
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Delaplaine is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delaplaine
- Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
- Clay County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- Knobel
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Knobel is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knobel
- Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
- Peach Orchard
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Peach Orchard is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Orchard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
- Rector
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Corning
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- McDougal
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- McDougal is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDougal
- Population from the 2020 Census: 163 people
- Datto
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Datto is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Datto
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89 people
- Greenway
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Greenway is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway
- Population from the 2020 Census: 188 people
- Moark
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Moark is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moark
- Pollard
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Bell City
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Bell City is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bell City
- Piggott
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Success
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Success is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Success
- Population from the 2020 Census: 132 people
- Craighead County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- Red Onion
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Red Onion is located in Craighead County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Onion
- Brookland
(18 miles [29 km] to the south)
- Lake View
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Lake View is located in Craighead County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake View
- Monette
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Philadelphia
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Philadelphia is located in Craighead County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
- Bono
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Black Oak
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Black Oak is located in Craighead County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Oak
- Population from the 2020 Census: 259 people
- Lake City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Jonesboro
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Bay
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Bay is located in Craighead County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,816 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bay <1>
- Caraway
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- Sedgwick
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- College City
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- College City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College City
- Estimated population in 2016: 506 people
- Walnut Ridge
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Hoxie
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Mississippi County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- Arkmo
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Arkmo is located in Mississippi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkmo
- Leachville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Rington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Rington is located in Mississippi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rington
- Manila
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Stark City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Stark City is located in Mississippi County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stark City
- Randolph County
- The following are listed by their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- O'Kean
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- O'Kean is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Kean
- Population from the 2020 Census: 200 people
- Reyno
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Reyno is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reyno
- Population from the 2020 Census: 391 people
- Former names for Reyno:
- Cherokee Bay
- Esselwood
- Needmore
- Serene
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Serene is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Serene
- Biggers
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Biggers is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggers
- Population from the 2020 Census: 342 people
- Peru
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Peru is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peru
- Skaggs
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Skaggs is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Skaggs
- Manson
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Manson is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manson
- Brockett
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Brockett is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brockett
- Pocahontas
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Pocahontas is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pocahontas
- Population from the 2020 Census: 7,371 people
- Former names for Pocahontas:
- Bettis Bluff
- Betts Bluff
- Pokakhontas
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pocahontas <1>
- Maynard
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Maynard is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maynard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 379 people
- Attica
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Attica is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Attica
- Middlebrook
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Middlebrook is located in Randolph County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middlebrook
- Butler County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- Neelyville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Fagus
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Fagus is located in Butler County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fagus
- Oglesville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Oglesville is located in Butler County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oglesville
- Dunklin County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- Cardwell
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cockrum
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cockrum is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cockrum
- Red Onion
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Red Onion is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Onion
- Arbyrd
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Arbyrd is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arbyrd
- Population from the 2020 Census: 458 people
- Arkmo
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Arkmo is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkmo
- Senath
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Senath is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Senath
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,596 people
- Rington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Rington is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rington
- Caruth
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Caruth is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caruth
- Cotton Plant
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Cotton Plant is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cotton Plant
- Hornersville
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Hornersville is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hornersville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 586 people
- Kennett
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- Rives
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Rives is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rives
- Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
- Pemiscot County (MO)
- Gobler
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Gobler is located in Pemiscot County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gobler
- Ripley County (MO)
- The following are listed by their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- Current View
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Current View is located in Ripley County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Current View
- Naylor
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Naylor is located in Ripley County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naylor
- Population from the 2020 Census: 585 people
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Gainesville, see our County-by-County Page for Gainesville.
Cemeteries Near Gainesville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gainesville.
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 Gainesville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Gainesville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- Gainesville Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Friends Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- New Friendship Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Friendship Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the New Friendship Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the northeast of Oak Grove Heights.
- The New Friendship Cemetery has also been known as:
- Friendship Cemetery
- New Friendship Baptist Church Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #53951 <3>
- St. Johns Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Lafe Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Old Liberty Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Epsaba Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Hartsoe Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Hartsoe Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Wright Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Talken Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Memorial Gardens
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Continue List (265 more) ...
- Mountain Home Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Fairview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Beech Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
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.<4>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Gainesville had a population of 350 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Gainesville, with the one closest to Gainesville listed first.
- Halliday
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Halliday is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halliday
- Stonewall
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Stonewall is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stonewall
- Crowley
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Crowley is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crowley
- Paragould
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Marmaduke
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Bard
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Bard is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bard
- Knobel
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Knobel is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knobel
- Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
- Peach Orchard
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Peach Orchard is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Orchard
- Population from the 2020 Census: 123 people
- Walcott
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Walcott is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walcott
- Finch
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Finch is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Finch
- Bethel
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Bethel is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Rector
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Boydsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Boydsville is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boydsville
- Cockrum
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cockrum is located in Dunklin County (MO)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cockrum
- Lorado
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Lorado is located in Greene County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorado
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Gainesville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gainesville.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Gainesville ...
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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gainesville.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Gainesville. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Gainesville and those printed in the larger area surrounding Gainesville.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<2> of Gainesville.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Gainesville:
- Websites specific to Arkansas
- Pages specific to Greene County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Clay County
- Craighead County
- Lawrence County
- Mississippi County
- Randolph County
- Butler County
- Dunklin County
- Pemiscot County
- Ripley County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Arkansas
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> | 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- Gainesville) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <3> | 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. |
| <4> | 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 Gainesville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |