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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 Whelen 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 Whelen 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 Whelen 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 Whelen Springs: Whelen Spgs. (or less commonly used: Whelen Spngs. or Whelen 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 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.

Whelen Springs is located in Clark 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 Clark County: Dallas, Hot Spring, Montgomery, Nevada, Ouachita & Pike.

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

  • Clark County     (The home county of Whelen Springs)
  • Columbia County
  • Dallas County
  • Hempstead County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whelen Springs, with the one closest to Whelen Springs listed first.
    • Centerville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Perrytown
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Perrytown is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Perrytown
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Blevins
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Shover Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Hope
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Oakhaven
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Oakhaven is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakhaven
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 58 people
    • McCaskill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • McCaskill is located in Hempstead County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCaskill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 95 people
  • Hot Spring County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whelen Springs, with the one closest to Whelen Springs listed first.
    • Friendship
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Friendship is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
    • Midway
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Midway is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Donaldson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Donaldson is located in Hot Spring County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donaldson
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
  • Nevada County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whelen Springs, with the one closest to Whelen Springs listed first.
    • Bluff City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Zama ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Zama is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zama
    • Boughton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Prescott
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Cale
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Cale is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cale
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 68 people
    • Laneburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Rosston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Emmet
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Emmet is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emmet
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 455 people
    • Willisville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Willisville is located in Nevada County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willisville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 139 people
    • Bodcaw
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Ouachita County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Whelen Springs, with the one closest to Whelen Springs listed first.
    • Reader
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Chidester
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Chidester is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chidester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 256 people
    • Wyloe ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Wyloe is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyloe
    • Bragg City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Bragg City is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bragg City
    • Lufra ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Lufra is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lufra
    • Camden
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Vanduzer
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Cullendale
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • East Camden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • East Camden is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Camden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 809 people
    • Millville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Millville is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millville
    • Stephens
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Bearden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Pike County
  • White County

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

Cemeteries Near Whelen Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Whelen 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 Whelen Springs - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Whelen Springs had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Whelen Springs had a population of 85 people.

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

  • Sayre
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Sayre is located in Ouachita County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayre
  • Gurdon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Beirne
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Beirne is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beirne
  • Lackland ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Lackland is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lackland
  • Bluff City
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Smithton ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Smithton is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithton
  • Barham
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Barham is located in Ouachita County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barham
  • Chidester
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Chidester is located in Ouachita County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chidester
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 256 people
  • Hebron ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Hebron is located in Clark County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
  • Zama ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Zama is located in Nevada County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zama
  • Wyloe ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Wyloe is located in Ouachita County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyloe
  • Vaden
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Curtis
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Curtis is located in Clark County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Curtis
    • Boughton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Lunet
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Lunet is located in Ouachita County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lunet

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

Newspapers Published in Whelen 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 49 newspapers that have been published in the area around Whelen Springs.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Whelen Springs, 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 Whelen Springs.

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 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 Whelen 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 Whelen Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Whelen Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.