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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 Spring Valley (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 Spring Valley. 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 Spring Valley ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Spring Valley: Spring Vly. (or less commonly used: Spring Vally. or Spring Vlly.)

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 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.

Spring Valley is located in Washington 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 Washington County: Benton, Crawford, Madison & Adair (OK).

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

  • Washington County     (The home county of Spring Valley)
  • Benton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
    • War Eagle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Silver Springs ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
      • Silver Springs is located in Benton County
    • Bethel Heights
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bethel Heights have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel Heights
      • Bethel Heights is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,970 people
    • Lowell
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lowell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lowell
      • Lowell is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,876 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lowell <2>
    • Prairie Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Puckett ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Puckett have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Puckett
      • Puckett is located in Benton County
    • Lost Bridge Village
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Rogers
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Brightwater
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Avoca
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cave Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cave Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cave Springs
      • Cave Springs is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,737 people
    • Little Flock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little Flock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Flock
      • Little Flock is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,812 people
    • Garfield
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Garfield have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
      • Garfield is located in Benton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 597 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garfield <2>
  • Carroll County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
    • Mundell ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mundell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mundell
      • Mundell is located in Carroll County
    • Winona Springs ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Eureka Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eureka Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka Springs
      • Eureka Springs is located in Carroll County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,084 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eureka Springs <2>
    • Gaskins ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gaskins. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gaskins
      • Gaskins is located in Carroll County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gaskins
      • From Spring Valley to Gaskins
    • Metalton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Beaver
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beaver have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beaver
      • Beaver is located in Carroll County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 94 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beaver <2>
    • Berryville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Holiday Island
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Dryfork
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Rudd
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Urbanette
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • New Town ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Town have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
      • New Town is located in Carroll County
    • Osage
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Conway County
  • Crawford County
    • Bidville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bidville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bidville
      • Bidville is located in Crawford County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bidville
      • From Spring Valley to Bidville
  • Madison County
  • Barry County (MO)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
    • Seligman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seligman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seligman
      • Seligman is located in Barry County (MO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 835 people
    • Eagle Rock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eagle Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Rock
      • Eagle Rock is located in Barry County (MO)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eagle Rock <2>
    • Chain-O-Lakes
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chain-O-Lakes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chain-O-Lakes
      • Chain-O-Lakes is located in Barry County (MO)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 127 people
    • Washburn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Golden
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Golden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden
      • Golden is located in Barry County (MO)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Golden <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Spring Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spring Valley.

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

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

  • Morriss Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Morriss Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Morriss Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Joyce Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Joyce Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Joyce Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Vaughan Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Vaughan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Vaughan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mayfield Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mayfield Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mayfield Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wade Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wade Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wade Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Denny Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Denny Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Denny Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Johnson Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Head Family Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Davis Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Davis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Davis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bell Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Colbaugh Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Austin Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Austin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Austin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (290 more) ...
    • Shorty Burkes Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Old Best Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Best Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Best Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Dibler Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dibler Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dibler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Spring Valley had a population of 50 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Whitener
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hindsville
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Goshen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goshen have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Goshen is located in Washington County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,985 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Goshen <2>
  • Creech
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Creech have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creech
    • Creech is located in Benton County
  • Clifty
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clifty have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifty
    • Clifty is located in Madison County
  • Key ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Key have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Key
    • Key is located in Benton County
  • Silver Springs ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Springs
    • Silver Springs is located in Benton County
  • Wyman
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyman
    • Wyman is located in Washington County
  • Wesley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wesley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
    • Wesley is located in Madison County
  • Springdale
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Summit ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summit have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summit
    • Summit is located in Washington County
  • Harris
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Harris. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harris
    • Harris is located in Washington County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Harris
    • From Spring Valley to Harris
  • Continue List   (17 more) ...
    • Drakes Creek
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Drakes Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drakes Creek
      • Drakes Creek is located in Madison County
    • Larue
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Larue have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larue
      • Larue is located in Benton County
    • Johnson
      (12 miles [19.3 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 Spring Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Spring Valley.

Newspapers Published in Spring Valley ...

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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spring Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spring Valley, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spring Valley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Spring Valley:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Spring Valley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Washington County: www.co.washington.ar.us/

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 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Spring Valley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Spring Valley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 36.1756, Longitude: -93.9382       In this case, the coordinates for Spring Valley 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 Spring Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025