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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 Boyce (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 Boyce. 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 Parishes ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring parishes.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home parish. During their lives, most doctors were in the next parish to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the parish to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring parishes instead of the parish in which they lived:  their home parish contained property and probate records; the parish to the west contained birth and death records; the parish to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

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

Boyce is located in Rapides Parish.

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

The following parishes adjoin and form the boundaries of Rapides Parish: Allen, Avoyelles, Evangeline, Grant, La Salle, Natchitoches & Vernon.

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

  • Rapides Parish     (The home parish of Boyce)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boyce, with the one closest to Boyce listed first.
    • Zimmerman
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Zimmerman is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zimmerman
    • Rock
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Rock is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock
    • Hot Wells
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Hot Wells is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Wells
    • Lena
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Gardner
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Weil
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Weil is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weil
    • Hemphill
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Hemphill is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemphill
    • Flatwoods
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Otis
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Pineville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Alexandria Junction
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Alexandria Junction is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexandria Junction
    • Alexandria
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Sieper
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Avoyelles Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boyce, with the one closest to Boyce listed first.
    • Center Point
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • North Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • North Point is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Point
  • Grant Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boyce, with the one closest to Boyce listed first.
    • Fairmount
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Fairmount is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
    • Colfax
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Creola
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Creola is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creola
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Creola has also been known as:
      • Creola village
    • Stay
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Stay is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
    • Bentley
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Dry Prong
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pollock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Antonia
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Antonia is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antonia
    • Fishville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Fishville is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishville
    • Black Creek ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Black Creek is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Creek
    • Montgomery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Georgetown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Natchitoches Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boyce, with the one closest to Boyce listed first.
    • Marco
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Marco is located in Natchitoches Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marco
    • Gorum
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Cloutierville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Derry
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Derry is located in Natchitoches Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derry
    • Melrose
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Flora
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Natchez
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Vernon Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boyce, with the one closest to Boyce listed first.
    • Leander
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Leander is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leander
    • Lacamp
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Simpson
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Hicks
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Hicks is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks
    • Alco
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Alco is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alco
    • Walnut Hill
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Slagle
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Kurthwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Winn Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Boyce, with the one closest to Boyce listed first.
    • Atlanta
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Whitford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Whitford is located in Winn Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitford
    • Saint Maurice
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Boyce ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Boyce.

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

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

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

  • Boyce Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • St. Aloysius Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Dark - Neal Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • James Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Texada Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Lacour Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Deloges Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Rose View Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • McNutt Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Anthony Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cruikshank Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Union Baptist Church Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (193 more) ...
    • Union Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Raven Camp Baptist Church Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Campground Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)

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 Boyce had a population of 301 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Boyce had a population of 968 people.

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

  • Fairmount
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Fairmount is located in Grant Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
  • Crane
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Crane is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crane
  • Rapides
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Rapides is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapides
  • Lena
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Weil
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Weil is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weil
  • Colfax
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Milford ‑ Historic
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Milford is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
  • Hemphill
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hemphill is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemphill
  • Chopin
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Chopin is located in Natchitoches Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chopin
  • Alexandria
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Pineville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Gorum
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Boyce ...

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 33 newspapers that have been published in the area around Boyce.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Boyce, there are papers which were published within 14 miles [22.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Boyce.

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 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 Boyce:

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 Boyce, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Boyce) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.