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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 Houston (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 Houston. 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 and hospitals 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.

Houston is located in Texas County and is the County Seat.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Texas County: Dent, Douglas, Howell, Laclede, Phelps, Pulaski, Shannon & Wright.

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

  • Texas County     (The home county of Houston)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
    • Mineral Springs City
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Springs City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Springs City
      • Mineral Springs City is located in Texas County
    • Bucyrus
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bucyrus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bucyrus
      • Bucyrus is located in Texas County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bucyrus <2>
    • Solo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Solo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Solo
      • Solo is located in Texas County
    • Simmons
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Simmons
      • Simmons is located in Texas County
    • Raymondville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Yukon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yukon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yukon
      • Yukon is located in Texas County
    • Elk Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Creek
      • Elk Creek is located in Texas County
    • Success
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Eunice
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Licking
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Licking have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Licking
      • Licking is located in Texas County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,872 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Licking <2>
    • Bendavis
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bendavis have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bendavis
      • Bendavis is located in Texas County
    • Huggins
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huggins
      • Huggins is located in Texas County
  • Dent County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
    • Coulstone
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coulstone. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coulstone
      • Coulstone is located in Dent County
    • Darien
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Darien. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darien
      • Darien is located in Dent County
    • Jadwin
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jadwin
      • Jadwin is located in Dent County
    • Jack
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jack
      • Jack is located in Dent County
    • Lenox
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lenox have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lenox
      • Lenox is located in Dent County
  • Douglas County
    • Vanzant
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vanzant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vanzant
      • Vanzant is located in Douglas County
  • Howell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
    • Sterling ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sterling. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sterling
      • Sterling is located in Howell County
    • Willow Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Springs
      • Willow Springs is located in Howell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,098 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willow Springs <2>
    • Mountain View
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Burnham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Burnham. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burnham
      • Burnham is located in Howell County
  • Laclede County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
    • Lynchburg
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lynchburg have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynchburg
      • Lynchburg is located in Laclede County
    • Competition
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Competition
      • Competition is located in Laclede County
    • Falcon
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Falcon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Falcon
      • Falcon is located in Laclede County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Falcon <2>
  • Phelps County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
    • Beulah
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Beulah have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beulah
      • Beulah is located in Phelps County
    • Duke
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duke have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duke
      • Duke is located in Phelps County
    • Edgar Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Edgar Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgar Springs
      • Edgar Springs is located in Phelps County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 196 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edgar Springs <2>
  • Pulaski County
    • Bloodland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloodland
      • Bloodland is located in Pulaski County
  • Shannon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
    • Akers
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Akers
      • Akers is located in Shannon County
    • Alley
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alley
      • Alley is located in Shannon County
    • Round Spring
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Round Spring
      • Round Spring is located in Shannon County
  • Wright County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
    • Graff
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graff have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graff
      • Graff is located in Wright County
    • Astoria
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Astoria. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Astoria
      • Astoria is located in Wright County
    • Mountain Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Green Mountain
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Mountain
      • Green Mountain is located in Wright County
    • Saint George
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Saint George. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint George
      • Saint George is located in Wright County
    • Jerktail ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jerktail. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerktail
      • Jerktail is located in Wright County
    • Norwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwood
      • Norwood is located in Wright County
      • Estimated population in 2015: 641 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norwood <2>
    • Hartville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Houston ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Houston.

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 Houston covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Pine Lawn Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pine Lawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pine Lawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Foard Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Foard Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Foard Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • County Farm Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the County Farm Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the County Farm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • White Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Emery Chapel Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Emery Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Emery Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Allen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Allen Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Allen Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rocky Branch Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rocky Branch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rocky Branch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crane Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crane Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Big Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Big Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Big Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Antioch Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Antioch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Antioch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mahan Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mahan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mahan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Home Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Home Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (169 more) ...
    • Cavaness Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cavaness Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cavaness Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hamilton Creek Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hamilton Creek Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hamilton Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jarrett Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jarrett Cemetery
      • The Jarrett Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Jarrett - Hamilton Creek 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Houston had a population of 355 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Houston had a population of 2,085 people.

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

  • Samoa
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Samoa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Samoa
    • Samoa is located in Texas County
  • Lundy
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lundy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lundy
    • Lundy is located in Texas County
  • Venable
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Venable have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Venable
    • Venable is located in Texas County
  • Raymondville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Ellis Prairie
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ellis Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ellis Prairie
    • Ellis Prairie is located in Texas County
  • Plum Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plum Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Valley
    • Plum Valley is located in Texas County
  • Big Creek
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Creek
    • Big Creek is located in Texas County
  • Dykes
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dykes have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dykes
    • Dykes is located in Texas County
  • Bado
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bado
    • Bado is located in Texas County
  • Elk Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Creek
    • Elk Creek is located in Texas County
  • Tyrone
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tyrone have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyrone
    • Tyrone is located in Texas County
  • Oscar
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oscar have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oscar
    • Oscar is located in Texas County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Success
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Eunice
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Ridge
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Ridge
      • Pleasant Ridge is located in Texas County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Houston ...

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 45 newspapers that have been published in the area around Houston.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Houston. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Houston and those printed in the larger area surrounding Houston.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5> of Houston.

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 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 Houston:

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

The official website for State of Missouri: https://www.mo.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>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 Houston, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Houston) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Houston. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 37.3215, Longitude: -91.9608       In this case, the coordinates for Houston have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 28 Apr 2025