RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Louisiana >> Rapides Parish >> Smithville >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Louisiana

The Commemorative Quarter for Louisiana





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 Smithville (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 Smithville. 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 hospitals 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.

Smithville is located in Rapides Parish.

To see how the shape of Louisiana's parishes 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 Smithville. For each of these parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Smithville:

  • Rapides Parish     (The home parish of Smithville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
    • Pineville
      (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Alexandria
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Alexandria Junction
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alexandria Junction
      • Alexandria Junction is located in Rapides Parish
    • Tioga
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tioga have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tioga
      • Tioga is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tioga <1>
    • Libuse
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Libuse have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Libuse
      • Libuse is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Libuse <1>
    • Anandale
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anandale
      • Anandale is located in Rapides Parish
    • Ball
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ball have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ball
      • Ball is located in Rapides Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,906 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ball <1>
    • Kolin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Moreland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
      • Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
    • Weil
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weil have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weil
      • Weil is located in Rapides Parish
    • Whittington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Whittington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whittington
      • Whittington is located in Rapides Parish
    • Ruby
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ruby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ruby
      • Ruby is located in Rapides Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ruby <1>
  • Avoyelles Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
    • Center Point
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
      • Center Point is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Center Point <1>
    • North Point
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Point
      • North Point is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Effie
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Egg Bend
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Egg Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
      • Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Vick
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vick
      • Vick is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Moncla
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moncla
      • Moncla is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Marksville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marksville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marksville
      • Marksville is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,271 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Marksville <1>
    • Hessmer
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hessmer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hessmer
      • Hessmer is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 749 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hessmer <1>
    • Bunkie
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunkie
      • Bunkie is located in Avoyelles Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,826 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bunkie <1>
    • Mansura
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Eola
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eola
      • Eola is located in Avoyelles Parish
    • Enterprise
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
      • Enterprise is located in Avoyelles Parish
  • Grant Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
    • Creola
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Creola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creola
      • Creola is located in Grant Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 216 people
      • Creola has also been known as:
      • Creola village
    • Stay
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stay
      • Stay is located in Grant Parish
    • Pollock
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Bentley
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Antonia
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antonia
      • Antonia is located in Grant Parish
    • Fairmount
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairmount have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
      • Fairmount is located in Grant Parish
    • Dry Prong
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dry Prong have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dry Prong
      • Dry Prong is located in Grant Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dry Prong <1>
    • Colfax
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Georgetown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Georgetown have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georgetown
      • Georgetown is located in Grant Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 319 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Georgetown <1>
  • La Salle Parish
    • The following are listed by their distance from Smithville, with the one closest to Smithville listed first.
    • Sharp Town
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sharp Town have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sharp Town
      • Sharp Town is located in La Salle Parish
    • Zenoria
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zenoria
      • Zenoria is located in La Salle Parish
    • Midway
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Midway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midway
      • Midway is located in La Salle Parish
    • Trout
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Trout have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trout
      • Trout is located in La Salle Parish
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Trout <1>
    • Jena
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jena have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jena
      • Jena is located in La Salle Parish
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,430 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jena <1>
  • Natchitoches Parish
    • Marco
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Marco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marco
      • Marco is located in Natchitoches Parish
  • Vernon Parish
    • Leander
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leander have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leander
      • Leander is located in Vernon Parish

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

Newspapers Published in Smithville ...

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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smithville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smithville, there are papers which were published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smithville.

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 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 Smithville:

Cemeteries Near Smithville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smithville.

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.

If you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our selection of Genealogy Websites (see below).

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

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

  • Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery
  • B'nai Israel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the B'nai Israel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the B'nai Israel Cemetery
  • Holly Oak Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holly Oak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holly Oak Cemetery
  • Methodist Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Methodist Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Methodist Cemetery
  • Mt. Olivet Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olivet Cemetery
  • Jewish Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jewish Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jewish Cemetery
  • Wesley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wesley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wesley Cemetery
  • Sunlight Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Greenwood Memorial Park
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Alexandria National Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Maryhill Seminary Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maryhill Seminary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maryhill Seminary Cemetery
  • Garden of Memories Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garden of Memories Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garden of Memories Cemetery
  • Continue List   (206 more) ...
    • Forest Lawn Memorial Park
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Lawn Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Lawn Memorial Park
    • Labat Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Labat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Labat Cemetery
    • Anandale Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Anandale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Anandale Cemetery

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.<5>

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

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

  • Pineville
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Alexandria
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Moreland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moreland
    • Moreland is located in Rapides Parish
  • Weil
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weil have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weil
    • Weil is located in Rapides Parish
  • Rapides
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rapides have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapides
    • Rapides is located in Rapides Parish
  • Holloway
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Holloway have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holloway
    • Holloway is located in Rapides Parish
  • Lamourie
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lamourie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamourie
    • Lamourie is located in Rapides Parish
  • Poland
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Poland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Poland
    • Poland is located in Rapides Parish
  • Fishville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fishville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fishville
    • Fishville is located in Grant Parish
  • Boyce
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boyce have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyce
    • Boyce is located in Rapides Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 968 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boyce <1>
  • Crane
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crane have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crane
    • Crane is located in Rapides Parish
  • Lecompte
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lecompte have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lecompte
    • Lecompte is located in Rapides Parish
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,151 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lecompte <1>
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Fairmount
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fairmount have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
      • Fairmount is located in Grant Parish
    • Milford ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milford
      • Milford is located in Rapides Parish
    • Egg Bend
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Egg Bend have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egg Bend
      • Egg Bend is located in Avoyelles Parish

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Smithville. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Rapides Parish: www.rppj.com/

The official website for State of Louisiana: louisiana.gov/

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 location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<3>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Smithville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Smithville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3246, Longitude: -92.4101       In this case, the coordinates for Smithville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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 Smithville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024