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 Smithville (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 Smithville. 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 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.
Smithville is located in Miller 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 Miller County: Hempstead, Lafayette, Little River, Bossier (LA), Caddo (LA), Bowie (TX) & Cass (TX).
Below are the counties/parishes that are near Smithville. For each of these counties/parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Smithville:
- Miller County (The home county of Smithville)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
- Doddridge
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Capps City
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Capps City is located in Miller County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capps City
- Fouke
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Roberts ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Roberts is located in Miller County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts
- Genoa
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Genoa is located in Miller County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Genoa
- Garland
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Garland is located in Miller County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 235 people
- Rondo
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Rondo is located in Miller County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rondo
- Texarkana
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Columbia County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
- Taylor
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Welcome
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Welcome is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welcome
- Western
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Western is located in Columbia County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Western
- Lafayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
- Gin City
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gin City is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gin City
- Walnut Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Walnut Hill is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
- Bradley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Kress City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
- Kress City is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kress City
- McKamie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- McKamie is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McKamie
- Lewisville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Old Town
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Old Town is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
- Stamps
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Bossier Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
- Plain Dealing
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Alden Bridge
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Alden Bridge is located in Bossier Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alden Bridge
- Benton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Ivan
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ivan is located in Bossier Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivan
- Caddo Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
- Ida
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Ida is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida
- Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
- Missionary
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Missionary is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missionary
- Frog Level ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Frog Level is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog Level
- Rodessa
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Zylks
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Zylks is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zylks
- Hosston
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Garfield ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Garfield is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
- Vivian
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Black Bayou ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Black Bayou is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bayou
- Gilliam
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Belcher
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Oil City
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Mooringsport
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Webster Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
- Springhill
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Cullen
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Sarepta
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Cotton Valley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bowie County (TX)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
- Sulphur
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Sulphur is located in Bowie County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur
- Texarkana
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wake Village
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Nash
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Nash is located in Bowie County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,781 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nash <1>
- Redwater
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Cass County (TX)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
- Bloomburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- McLeod
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Huffins
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Huffins is located in Cass County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffins
- Atlanta
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Queen City
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Springdale
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Springdale is located in Cass County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springdale
- Bivins
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Domino
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Domino is located in Cass County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Domino
- Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
- Kildare
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Linden
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Douglassville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Red Hill
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Red Hill is located in Cass County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Hill
- Harrison County (TX)
- Uncertain
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Marion County (TX)
- Lodi
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Smithville, see our County-by-County Page for Smithville.
Cemeteries Near Smithville ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smithville.
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 Smithville - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Smithville covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
- New Hope Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Blanton Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Sulphur Fork Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
- Slaughter Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slaughter Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Slaughter Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located less than 2 miles<2> to the north of Rodessa (LA).
- The Slaughter Cemetery has also been known as:
- Rodessa Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #68985 <3>
- Antioch Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Oak Hill Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Brown Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Stevens Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Hosston Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Ford Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Bradley Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- St. Mary Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (132 more) ...
- Walnut Hill Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- New Hope Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Josey Cemetery
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
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>
While we didn't find Smithville in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Smithville.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
- Missionary
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Missionary is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Missionary
- Frog Level ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Frog Level is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frog Level
- Era ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Era is located in Miller County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Era
- Arkana
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Arkana is located in Bossier Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arkana
- Walnut Hill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Walnut Hill is located in Lafayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
- Bradley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Boggy
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- Boggy is located in Miller County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boggy
- Garfield ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Garfield is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
- Plain Dealing
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Fouke
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Huffins
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Huffins is located in Cass County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huffins
- Black Bayou ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Black Bayou is located in Caddo Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Bayou
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Collinsburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Collinsburg is located in Bossier Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Collinsburg
- Roberts ‑ Historic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Roberts is located in Miller County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roberts
- Redland
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Redland is located in Bossier Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Redland
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Smithville. See our List of 1890's Communities around Smithville.
Newspapers Published in Smithville ...
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 8 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smithville.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smithville, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smithville.
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 Smithville:
- Websites specific to Arkansas
- Pages specific to Miller County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Columbia County
- Lafayette County
- Bossier Parish
- Caddo Parish
- Webster Parish
- Bowie County
- Cass County
- Harrison County
- Marion 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 '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- Smithville) 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 Smithville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |