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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 Clifton Crossing (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 Clifton Crossing. 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 Clifton Crossing ...

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 occur.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Clifton Crossing: Clifton Xing.

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 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 northeast corner of their home parish. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next parish to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the parish to the north.

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 east contained birth and death records; the parish to the north 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.

Clifton Crossing 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 Clifton Crossing. For each of these parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Clifton Crossing:

  • Rapides Parish     (The home parish of Clifton Crossing)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Crossing, with the one closest to Clifton Crossing listed first.
    • Sieper
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Hemphill
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Hemphill is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemphill
    • Otis
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Hineston
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Gardner
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Hot Wells
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Hot Wells is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hot Wells
    • Elmer
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Flatwoods
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Mora
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Rock
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Rock is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock
    • Boyce
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Zimmerman
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Zimmerman is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zimmerman
    • Lena
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Allen Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Crossing, with the one closest to Clifton Crossing listed first.
    • Elizabeth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Mab
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Mab is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mab
    • Reids
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Reids is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reids
    • Pawnee
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Pawnee is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pawnee
    • Marionville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Marionville is located in Allen Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marionville
    • Oakdale
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Beauregard Parish
  • Grant Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Crossing, with the one closest to Clifton Crossing listed first.
    • Fairmount
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Fairmount is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
    • Colfax
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Creola
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Stay is located in Grant Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
    • Bentley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Dry Prong
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Montgomery
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Natchitoches Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Crossing, with the one closest to Clifton Crossing listed first.
    • Gorum
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Marco
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Marco is located in Natchitoches Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marco
    • Derry
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Derry is located in Natchitoches Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derry
    • Cloutierville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Melrose
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Bellwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Bellwood is located in Natchitoches Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellwood
    • Flora
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Vernon Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Clifton Crossing, with the one closest to Clifton Crossing listed first.
    • Leander
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Leander is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leander
    • Lacamp
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Hicks
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Hicks is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks
    • Simpson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Walnut Hill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Walnut Hill is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Hill
    • Slagle
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Fullerton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Alco
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Alco is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alco
    • Pitkin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Kurthwood
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Dido
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Dido is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dido
    • Cravens
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Cravens is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cravens
    • Fort Polk North
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Fort Polk North is located in Vernon Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Polk North

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

Cemeteries Near Clifton Crossing ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Clifton Crossing.

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 Clifton Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Pisgah Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Burns Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Hardshell Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Holt Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Nichols Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Laurel Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Dyer Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Dewill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Ball Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Noel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Marler Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (190 more) ...
    • Blackwell Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Scott Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Schorn Brook Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)

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>

While we didn't find Clifton Crossing in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Clifton Crossing.

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

  • Hemphill
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Hemphill is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemphill
  • Hineston
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Milford ‑ Historic
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Milford is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
  • Cora
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Cora is located in Vernon Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cora
  • Elmer
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Crane
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Crane is located in Rapides Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crane
  • Hicks
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Hicks is located in Vernon Parish
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hicks
  • Simpson
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Mora
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Melder
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Boyce
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Gorum
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Lena
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Weil
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Weil is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weil
    • Rapides
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Rapides is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapides

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

Newspapers Published in Clifton Crossing ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Clifton Crossing.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Clifton Crossing, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Clifton Crossing.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites either 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 Clifton Crossing:

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