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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 Waldo (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 Waldo. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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/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 south 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.

Waldo is located in Columbia 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 Columbia County: Lafayette, Nevada, Ouachita, Union, Claiborne (LA) & Webster (LA).

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

  • Columbia County     (The home county of Waldo)
  • Hempstead County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waldo, with the one closest to Waldo listed first.
    • Patmos
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Patmos is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patmos
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
    • Centerville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Shover Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Hope
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Perrytown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Perrytown is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrytown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
  • Lafayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waldo, with the one closest to Waldo listed first.
    • Buckner
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Buckner is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckner
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 229 people
    • Stamps
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • McKamie
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lewisville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Old Town
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Old Town is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Town
    • Kress City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Kress City is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kress City
    • Bradley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Walnut Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Gin City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Gin City is located in Lafayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gin City
  • Miller County
    • Garland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Nevada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waldo, with the one closest to Waldo listed first.
    • Willisville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Willisville is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willisville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 139 people
    • Bodcaw
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Rosston
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Cale
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Cale is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
    • Zama ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Zama is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zama
    • Laneburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Bluff City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Emmet
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Emmet is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
  • Ouachita County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waldo, with the one closest to Waldo listed first.
    • Stephens
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Lufra ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Lufra is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lufra
    • Pace City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Pace City is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pace City
    • Liberty
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Bragg City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Bragg City is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bragg City
    • Chidester
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Chidester is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chidester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 256 people
    • Louann
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Reader
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Cullendale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Camden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Union County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waldo, with the one closest to Waldo listed first.
    • Mount Holly
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Lisbon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Dodge City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Dodge City is located in Union County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge City
  • Claiborne Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waldo, with the one closest to Waldo listed first.
    • Haynesville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Gordon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Dykesville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Webster Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waldo, with the one closest to Waldo listed first.
    • Springhill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Cullen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Cullen is located in Webster Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cullen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,056 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cullen <1>
    • Shongaloo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Waldo ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waldo.

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

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

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

  • Waldo Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Dickson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Strong Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Shiloh Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Columbia Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Hartsfield Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Green Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Barlow Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Rudd Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • St. Matthews Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Frazier Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (196 more) ...
    • Antioch Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Scott Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Magnolia Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Waldo had a population of 709 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Waldo had a population of 1,256 people.

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

  • Lumber
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Lumber is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lumber
  • McNeil
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Magnolia
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • College Hill
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Delta
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Delta is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delta
  • Milner ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Milner is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milner
  • Falcon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Falcon is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falcon
  • Willisville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Willisville is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willisville
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 139 people
  • Laughlin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Laughlin is located in Columbia County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laughlin
  • Glenville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Glenville is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenville
  • Stamps
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Macedonia
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Calhoun
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Sharman
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Sharman is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharman
    • Brister
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Brister is located in Columbia County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brister

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Waldo ...

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 22 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waldo.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Waldo. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Waldo and those printed in the larger area surrounding Waldo.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 18 miles [29 km]<3> of Waldo.

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 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 Waldo:

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>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 Waldo, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Waldo) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.