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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 Shover Springs (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 Shover Springs. 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 Shover Springs ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Shover Springs: Shover Spgs. (or less commonly used: Shover Spngs. or Shover Sprngs.)

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.

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 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.

Shover Springs is located in Hempstead 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 Hempstead County: Clark, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Nevada & Pike.

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

  • Hempstead County     (The home county of Shover Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shover Springs, with the one closest to Shover Springs listed first.
    • Centerville
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Hope
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Perrytown
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
      • Perrytown is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrytown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Patmos
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Patmos is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patmos
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
    • Oakhaven
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Oakhaven is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakhaven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
    • Sheppard
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Washington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Fulton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Blevins
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • McNab
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • McNab is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNab
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 63 people
    • Ozan
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Ozan is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ozan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 79 people
    • Columbus
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • McCaskill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • McCaskill is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCaskill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 95 people
  • Clark County
  • Columbia County
  • Howard County
  • Lafayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shover Springs, with the one closest to Shover Springs listed first.
    • Old Town
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Old Town is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Lewisville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Stamps
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Buckner
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Buckner is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckner
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
    • Kress City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Kress City is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kress City
    • McKamie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Little River County
  • Miller County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shover Springs, with the one closest to Shover Springs listed first.
    • Garland
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Genoa
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Genoa is located in Miller County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
    • Rondo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Nevada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shover Springs, with the one closest to Shover Springs listed first.
    • Emmet
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Emmet is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
    • Bodcaw
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Laneburg
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Rosston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Prescott
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Willisville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Willisville is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willisville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 139 people
    • Cale
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Cale is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
    • Boughton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Zama ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Zama is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zama
    • Bluff City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Ouachita County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shover Springs, with the one closest to Shover Springs listed first.
    • Reader
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Chidester
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Chidester is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chidester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 256 people
    • Stephens
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Pike County
  • Sevier County

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

Cemeteries Near Shover Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shover Springs.

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 Shover Springs - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Giles Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Ross Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Ayers Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Rocky Mound Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Wise Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Huckabee Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Hatch Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Rose Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Turner Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Phillips Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (174 more) ...
    • Best Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Robinson Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • St. Mark Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Shover Springs had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Hope
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Sardis ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Sardis is located in Hempstead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sardis
  • Clayton ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Clayton is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clayton
  • Emmet
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Emmet is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmet
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
  • Bodcaw
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Guernsey
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Guernsey is located in Hempstead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guernsey
  • Brisbane ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Brisbane is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brisbane
  • De Ann
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • De Ann is located in Hempstead County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Ann
  • Laneburg
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Sheppard
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Falcon
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Falcon is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falcon
  • Mount Moriah
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Mount Moriah is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Moriah
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Garlandville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Garlandville is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garlandville
    • Washington
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Rosston
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)

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

Newspapers Published in Shover Springs ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shover Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shover Springs, there are papers which were published within 23 miles [37 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shover Springs.

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 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 Shover Springs:

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 Shover Springs, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Shover Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.