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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 Rolla (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 Rolla. 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 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 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, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

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

Rolla is located in Hot Spring 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 Hot Spring County: Clark, Dallas, Garland, Grant, Montgomery & Saline.

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

  • Hot Spring County     (The home county of Rolla)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Lono
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Etta ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Etta is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etta
    • Donaldson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Donaldson is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
    • Perla
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Perla is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perla
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
    • Malvern
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Malvern is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malvern
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,788 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Malvern <1>
    • Saginaw
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Social Hill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Midway
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Midway is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Rockport
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Rockport is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 710 people
    • Butterfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Friendship
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Friendship is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
    • Magnet Cove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Magnet Cove is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnet Cove
      • Estimated population in 2014: 5 people
  • Calhoun County
  • Clark County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Joan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Griffithtown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Arkadelphia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Caddo Valley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Caddo Valley is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caddo Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 635 people
    • Gum Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Gum Springs is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 110 people
    • Curtis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Curtis is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis
    • Vaden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Cleveland County
  • Dallas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Manning
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Carthage
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Carthage is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 286 people
    • Dalark
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bunn
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Sparkman
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Ivan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Ivan is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivan
  • Garland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Price
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lonsdale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Lake Hamilton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Hot Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Rockwell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Fountain Lake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Fountain Lake is located in Garland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Lake
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 576 people
    • Piney
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Piney is located in Garland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney
  • Grant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Leola
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Poyen
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Poyen is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poyen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
    • Dogwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Prattsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Turin ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Turin is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turin
    • Cherry Grove ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Cherry Grove is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherry Grove
    • Tull
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Tull is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tull
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 464 people
    • Slabtown
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Slabtown is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slabtown
    • Sheridan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Ebb
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Grapevine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Grapevine is located in Grant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grapevine
    • Center Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Saline County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rolla, with the one closest to Rolla listed first.
    • Traskwood
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Haskell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Fairplay ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Shaw
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Benton
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Kentucky
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Bauxite
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Bauxite is located in Saline County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bauxite
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 555 people
    • Rubicon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Salem
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Salem is located in Saline County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salem
  • White County

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

Cemeteries Near Rolla ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rolla.

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 Rolla - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

While we didn't find Rolla in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rolla.

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

  • Lono
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Willow
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Willow is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow
  • Tulip
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Tulip is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulip
  • Elmore ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Elmore is located in Hot Spring County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmore
  • Etta ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Etta is located in Hot Spring County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Etta
  • Donaldson
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Donaldson is located in Hot Spring County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
  • Dogwood
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Gifford
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Gifford is located in Hot Spring County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gifford
  • Ivy
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Ivy is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivy
  • Malvern
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Malvern is located in Hot Spring County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Malvern
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,788 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Malvern <1>
  • Prattsville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Fenter
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Fenter is located in Grant County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fenter
  • 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 Rolla. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rolla.

Newspapers Published in Rolla ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rolla.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rolla, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rolla.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Rolla:

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