Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Phelan. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Phelan to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Phelan, please Contact Us.
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 Phelan (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 Phelan. 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/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 northeast 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 north.
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 east contained birth and death records; the county to the north 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Phelan is historic, it would have been located within present day Ashley 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 Ashley County: Bradley, Chicot, Drew, Union, Morehouse (LA) & Union (LA).
Below are the counties/parishes that are near Phelan. For each of these counties/parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Phelan:
- Ashley County (The home county of Phelan)
- The following are listed by their distance from Phelan, with the one closest to Phelan listed first.
- Hamburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Montrose
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Montrose is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montrose
- Population from the 2020 Census: 298 people
- Portland
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Fountain Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Fountain Hill is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
- Parkdale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Wilmot
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Wilmot is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmot
- Population from the 2020 Census: 483 people
- North Crossett
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- North Crossett is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Crossett
- Crossett
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Elon ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Elon is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elon
- West Crossett
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- West Crossett is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Crossett
- Meridian
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Meridian is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
- Bradley County
- The following are listed by their distance from Phelan, with the one closest to Phelan listed first.
- Long View Ferry
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Long View Ferry is located in Bradley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long View Ferry
- Johnsville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Johnsville is located in Bradley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsville
- Blanchton
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Blanchton is located in Bradley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanchton
- Sumpter
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Sumpter is located in Bradley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumpter
- Sturgis ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Sturgis is located in Bradley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgis
- Ingalls
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Ingalls is located in Bradley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ingalls
- Chicot County
- The following are listed by their distance from Phelan, with the one closest to Phelan listed first.
- Lake Village
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Dermott
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Eudora
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Desha County
- McGehee
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Drew County
- The following are listed by their distance from Phelan, with the one closest to Phelan listed first.
- Jerome
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Jerome is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
- Population from the 2020 Census: 34 people
- Lacey
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lacey is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
- Collins
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Collins is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- Monticello
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Rose Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Rose Hill is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
- Wilmar
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Wilmar is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilmar
- Population from the 2020 Census: 477 people
- Selma
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Selma is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selma
- Barkada
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Barkada is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barkada
- Morehouse Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Phelan, with the one closest to Phelan listed first.
- Jones
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Bonita
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Brodnax ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Brodnax is located in Morehouse Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brodnax
- West Carroll Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Phelan, with the one closest to Phelan listed first.
- Kilbourne
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Fiske
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Fiske is located in West Carroll Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fiske
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Phelan, see our County-by-County Page for Phelan.
Cemeteries Near Phelan ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Phelan.
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 Phelan - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Phelan covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Phelan, with the one closest to Phelan listed first.
- Snyder Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Powell Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Central Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- New Texas Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Griswould Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Promise Land Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Mt. Olive Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Cleveland Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Hogue Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Holly Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Hamburg Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (164 more) ...
- Judkins Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Beech Creek Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Portland Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
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.
While we didn't find Phelan in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Phelan.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Phelan, with the one closest to Phelan listed first.
- Snyder
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Snyder is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Snyder
- Berea
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Berea is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berea
- Trafalgar
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Trafalgar is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trafalgar
- Hamburg
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Portland
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Sunshine
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Sunshine is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunshine
- Scipio
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Scipio is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scipio
- Parkdale
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
- Fountain Hill
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Fountain Hill is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Hill
- Population from the 2020 Census: 157 people
- Hudspeth
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Hudspeth is located in Chicot County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hudspeth
- Lacey
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lacey is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacey
- Milo
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Milo is located in Ashley County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milo
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Collins
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Collins is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collins
- Paradise ‑ Historic
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Paradise is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paradise
- Baxter
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Baxter is located in Drew County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baxter
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Phelan. See our List of 1890's Communities around Phelan.
Newspapers Published in Phelan ...
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 28 newspapers that have been published in the area around Phelan.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Phelan, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Phelan.
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 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 Phelan:
- Websites specific to Arkansas
- Pages specific to Ashley County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bradley County
- Chicot County
- Desha County
- Drew County
- Morehouse Parish
- West Carroll Parish
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Arkansas
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Phelan, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <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> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Phelan) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |