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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 Waco (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 Waco. 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 ...

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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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 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, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Waco is located in Haralson County.

To see how the shape of Georgia's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Haralson County: Cleburne (AL), Carroll, Paulding & Polk.

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

  • Haralson County     (The home county of Waco)
  • Bartow County
  • Carroll County
  • Cobb County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
    • Powder Springs Chase
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Powder Springs Chase is located in Cobb County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powder Springs Chase
      • Estimated population in 2019: 15,758 people
    • Powder Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Coweta County
  • Douglas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
    • Villa Rica
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Tyree
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Tyree is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyree
    • Ephesus Heights
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Ephesus Heights is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ephesus Heights
      • Estimated population in 2019: 461 people
    • Winston
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Hannah
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Hannah is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannah
    • White City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • White City is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
    • Douglasville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Springwood Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Springwood Village is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Springwood Village
    • Windwood Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Windwood Village is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windwood Village
    • Lakeland Hills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Lakeland Hills is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeland Hills
      • Estimated population in 2019: 3,282 people
    • Blair Heights
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Blair Heights is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blair Heights
      • Estimated population in 2019: 643 people
    • Flowers Estates
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Flowers Estates is located in Douglas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flowers Estates
      • Estimated population in 2019: 8,325 people
    • Lithia Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Floyd County
  • Fulton County
  • Heard County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
    • Ephesus
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Roosterville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Roosterville is located in Heard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roosterville
    • Centralhatchee
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Centralhatchee is located in Heard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centralhatchee
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 377 people
    • Yates Crossroads
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Yates Crossroads is located in Heard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yates Crossroads
      • Estimated population in 2019: 360 people
    • Frolona
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Franklin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Riverside
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Riverside is located in Heard County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
  • Paulding County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
    • Hanlin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Hanlin is located in Paulding County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hanlin
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 3,298 people
    • Home Place Acres
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Home Place Acres is located in Paulding County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Home Place Acres
      • Estimated population in 2019: 2,350 people
    • Braswell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Dallas
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Forrister
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Forrister is located in Paulding County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forrister
      • Estimated population in 2019: 4,130 people
    • Indian Rose
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Indian Rose is located in Paulding County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Rose
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 2,241 people
    • Hiram
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Country Acres
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Country Acres is located in Paulding County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Country Acres
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 8,545 people
    • New Hope
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • New Hope is located in Paulding County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
      • Estimated population in 2019: 262 people
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
    • Grady ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Grady is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grady
      • Estimated population in 2019: 290 people
    • Esom Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Greenway ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Greenway is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenway
    • Cedartown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Rockmart
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Aragon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Etna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Seney
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Seney is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seney
      • Estimated population in 2019: 4,412 people
  • Calhoun County (AL)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
    • Abernathy ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Abernathy is located in Calhoun County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Abernathy
    • Dailey
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Iron City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Iron City is located in Calhoun County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iron City
    • Piedmont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Nances Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • White Plains
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Goshen is located in Calhoun County (AL)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Choccolocco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Cherokee County (AL)
  • Cleburne County (AL)
  • Randolph County (AL)

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

Cemeteries Near Waco ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waco.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco 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 Waco had a population of 357 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Waco had a population of 532 people.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Waco ...

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 50 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waco.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Waco, there are papers which were published within 18 miles [29 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Waco.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Waco:

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 Waco, 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' (or 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- Waco) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.