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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 Morganton (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 Morganton. 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 hospitals and 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.

Morganton is located in Van Buren 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 Van Buren County: Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Searcy & Stone.

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

  • Van Buren County     (The home county of Morganton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morganton, with the one closest to Morganton listed first.
    • Green Tree
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Bee Branch
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bee Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee Branch
      • Bee Branch is located in Van Buren County
    • Gravesville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Choctaw
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Choctaw have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw
      • Choctaw is located in Van Buren County
    • Eglantine
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Chalk ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chalk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalk
      • Chalk is located in Van Buren County
    • Damascus
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Damascus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
      • Damascus is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 384 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Damascus <2>
    • Formosa
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Fairfield Bay
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Clinton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Shirley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shirley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shirley
      • Shirley is located in Van Buren County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shirley <2>
    • Scotland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Crabtree
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Cleburne County
  • Conway County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morganton, with the one closest to Morganton listed first.
    • Austin
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Austin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austin
      • Austin is located in Conway County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Austin <2>
    • Center Ridge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Springfield
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Springfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springfield
      • Springfield is located in Conway County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Springfield <2>
    • Middleton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Cleveland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cleveland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cleveland
      • Cleveland is located in Conway County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cleveland <2>
    • Solgohachia
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Solgohachia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solgohachia
      • Solgohachia is located in Conway County
    • Menifee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Menifee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Menifee
      • Menifee is located in Conway County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 321 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Menifee <2>
    • Plumerville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Jerusalem
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jerusalem have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerusalem
      • Jerusalem is located in Conway County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jerusalem <2>
    • Hattieville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Old Hickory
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Faulkner County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morganton, with the one closest to Morganton listed first.
    • Guy
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guy
      • Guy is located in Faulkner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 792 people
    • Enders
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Twin Groves
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin Groves have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin Groves
      • Twin Groves is located in Faulkner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 334 people
    • Centerville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Greenbrier
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Wooster
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Enola
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Mount Vernon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Holland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holland
      • Holland is located in Faulkner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 586 people
    • Beryl
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Conway
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Hamlet
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hamlet. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hamlet
      • Hamlet is located in Faulkner County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hamlet
      • From Morganton to Hamlet
    • Vilonia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vilonia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vilonia
      • Vilonia is located in Faulkner County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,725 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vilonia <2>
  • Perry County
  • Pope County
  • Searcy County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morganton, with the one closest to Morganton listed first.
    • Leslie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leslie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leslie
      • Leslie is located in Searcy County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 415 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leslie <2>
    • Watts
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Watts. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watts
      • Watts is located in Searcy County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Watts
      • From Morganton to Watts
  • Stone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Morganton, with the one closest to Morganton listed first.
    • Fox
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fox have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fox
      • Fox is located in Stone County
    • Timbo
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Alco
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alco have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alco
      • Alco is located in Stone County
    • Onia
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onia have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onia
      • Onia is located in Stone County
    • Mountain View
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • White County

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

Cemeteries Near Morganton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Morganton.

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

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

  • Hardin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hardin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hardin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bee Branch Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bee Branch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bee Branch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Quattlebaum Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Quattlebaum Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Quattlebaum Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Blackwell Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blackwell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blackwell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lloyd Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lloyd Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lloyd Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Central Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Flat Rock Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Higden McLehaney Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Center Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Center Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Center Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hunter - Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hunter - Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hunter - Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • King Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the King Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the King Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (232 more) ...

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 in 1895, Morganton had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Bee Branch
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bee Branch have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee Branch
    • Bee Branch is located in Van Buren County
  • Choctaw
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Choctaw have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Choctaw
    • Choctaw is located in Van Buren County
  • Chalk ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chalk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalk
    • Chalk is located in Van Buren County
  • Eglantine
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Damascus
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Damascus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Damascus
    • Damascus is located in Van Buren County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 384 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Damascus <2>
  • Guy
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guy
    • Guy is located in Faulkner County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 792 people
  • Quitman
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Pinnacle Springs ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pinnacle Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinnacle Springs
    • Pinnacle Springs is located in Faulkner County
  • Clinton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Enders
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Shiloh ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Shiloh. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shiloh
    • Shiloh is located in Cleburne County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Shiloh
    • From Morganton to Shiloh
  • Settlement ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Settlement have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Settlement
    • Settlement is located in Van Buren County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Martinville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martinville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martinville
      • Martinville is located in Faulkner County
    • Claude
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Claude have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claude
      • Claude is located in Van Buren County
    • Scotland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Morganton ...

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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Morganton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Morganton, there are papers which were published within 17 miles [27.4 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Morganton.

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 Morganton:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Morganton. 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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Morganton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Morganton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.4726, Longitude: -92.3398       In this case, the coordinates for Morganton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Morganton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025