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 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 Shelby County.
To see how the shape of Ohio's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Shelby County: Auglaize, Champaign, Darke, Logan & Miami.
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:
- Shelby County (The home county of Houston)
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Dawson
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Dawson is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Russia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Hardin
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Hardin is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardin
- Fort Laramie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Lockington
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lockington is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
- Filburns Island
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Filburns Island is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Filburns Island
- Sidney
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Lehmkuhl Landing
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Lehmkuhl Landing is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lehmkuhl Landing
- Pasco
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Pasco is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pasco
- Anna
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Kettlersville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Port Jefferson
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Auglaize County
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Minster
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- New Bremen
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
- New Knoxville
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- New Knoxville is located in Auglaize County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Knoxville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 862 people
- Moulton
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Moulton is located in Auglaize County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moulton
- Saint Marys
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Fryburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Fryburg is located in Auglaize County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fryburg
- Pusheta Town ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Pusheta Town is located in Auglaize County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pusheta Town
- Wapakoneta
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Saint Johns
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Saint Johns is located in Auglaize County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johns
- Santa Fe
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Santa Fe is located in Auglaize County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Santa Fe
- Buckland
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Buckland is located in Auglaize County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
- Uniopolis
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Uniopolis is located in Auglaize County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Uniopolis
- Estimated population in 2016: 220 people
- Champaign County
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Carysville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Carysville is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carysville
- Christiansburg
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Saint Paris
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Millerstown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Millerstown is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerstown
- Westville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Westville is located in Champaign County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westville
- Clark County
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Dialton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Dialton is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dialton
- Dodo
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Dodo is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodo
- New Carlisle
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- North Hampton
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- North Hampton is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Hampton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 463 people
- Park Layne
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Park Layne is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Layne
- Crystal Lakes
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Crystal Lakes is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lakes
- Donnelsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Donnelsville is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Donnelsville
- Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
- Lawrenceville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lawrenceville is located in Clark County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrenceville
- Darke County
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Versailles
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Yorkshire
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Frenchtown
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Frenchtown is located in Darke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frenchtown
- Osgood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Brock
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Brock is located in Darke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock
- Gettysburg
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Gettysburg is located in Darke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gettysburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 809 people
- Dawn
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Dawn is located in Darke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawn
- Stelvideo
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Stelvideo is located in Darke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stelvideo
- North Star
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Pikeville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Pikeville is located in Darke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pikeville
- Rossburg
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Ansonia
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Ansonia is located in Darke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ansonia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,120 people
- Logan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Quincy
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- De Graff
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Logansville
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Logansville is located in Logan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logansville
- Lakeview
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Russells Point
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- West Liberty
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Huntsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mercer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Chickasaw
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Burkettsville
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
- Montezuma
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Montezuma is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montezuma
- Population from the 2020 Census: 158 people
- Saint Henry
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Coldwater
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Wendelin
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Wendelin is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wendelin
- Celina
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Fort Recovery
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Macedon
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Macedon is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Macedon
- Earley ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Earley is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earley
- Wabash
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Wabash is located in Mercer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wabash
- Mendon
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Miami County
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Polo
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Polo is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Polo
- Bloomer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bloomer is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomer
- Piqua
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Covington
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- West Covington
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- West Covington is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Covington
- Bradford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Pleasant Hill
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Fletcher
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Fletcher is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fletcher
- Population from the 2020 Census: 486 people
- Troy
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Casstown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Conover
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Conover is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conover
- Lena
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Lena is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lena
- Montgomery County
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Phillipsburg
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Phillipsburg is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillipsburg
- Population from the 2020 Census: 550 people
- Union
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Clayton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Englewood
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Tadmor ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Tadmor is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tadmor
- Vandalia
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Arlington
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Arlington is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlington
- Wengerlawn
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Wengerlawn is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wengerlawn
- Northview
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Northview is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northview
- Brookville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Huber Heights
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sulphur Grove
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Sulphur Grove is located in Montgomery County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Grove
- Preble County
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Verona
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- West Manchester
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Euphemia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Euphemia is located in Preble County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Euphemia
- Lewisburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Eldorado
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Eldorado is located in Preble County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldorado
- Population from the 2020 Census: 490 people
- Van Wert County
- Monticello
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Monticello is located in Van Wert County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monticello
- Jay County (IN)
- Salamonia
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Salamonia is located in Jay County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salamonia
- Population from the 2020 Census: 158 people
- Randolph County (IN)
- The following are listed by their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Union City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Haysville Corner
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Haysville Corner is located in Randolph County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Haysville Corner
- New Pittsburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- New Pittsburg is located in Randolph County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Pittsburg
- Spartanburg
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Spartanburg is located in Randolph County (IN)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spartanburg
- Saratoga
(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.
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 Houston - one of the links might be able to help.
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.
- Houston Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
- Wright Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Mills Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- New Oran Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Munk Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Angel Street Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Oran Christian Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Cynthian Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- St. Peter & St. Paul Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
- Galley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- St. Remy Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Lutheran Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Continue List (516 more) ...
- St. Michael Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- St. Michaels New Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Beechwood Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
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>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Houston had a population of 118 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Houston, with the one closest to Houston listed first.
- Dawson
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Dawson is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawson
- Oran
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Oran is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oran
- Russia
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Hardin
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Hardin is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hardin
- Bloomer
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bloomer is located in Miami County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomer
- Lockington
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Lockington is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockington
- Population from the 2020 Census: 133 people
- Kirkwood
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Kirkwood is located in Shelby County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirkwood
- Willowdell
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Willowdell is located in Darke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willowdell
- Versailles
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Webster
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Webster is located in Darke County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webster
- Piqua
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Minster
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Continue List (19 more) ...
- Bradford
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Covington
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Sidney
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
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 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 47 newspapers that have been published in the area around Houston.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Houston, there are papers which were published within 20 miles [32.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Houston.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Houston:
- Websites specific to Ohio
- Pages specific to Shelby County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Auglaize County
- Champaign County
- Clark County
- Darke County
- Logan County
- Mercer County
- Miami County
- Montgomery County
- Preble County
- Van Wert County
- Jay County
- Randolph County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Ohio
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 Houston, 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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Houston) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |