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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 Big Rocks (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 Big Rocks. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 west contained birth and death records; the county to the north 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.

Big Rocks is located in Pushmataha County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Pushmataha County: Atoka, Choctaw, Latimer, Le Flore, McCurtain & Pittsburg.

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

  • Pushmataha County     (The home county of Big Rocks)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Rocks, with the one closest to Big Rocks listed first.
    • Ethel
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
      • Ethel is located in Pushmataha County
    • Antlers
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Belzoni
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belzoni
      • Belzoni is located in Pushmataha County
    • Finley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Moyers
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Rattan
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Oleta
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleta
      • Oleta is located in Pushmataha County
    • Eubanks
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eubanks have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eubanks
      • Eubanks is located in Pushmataha County
    • Snow
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Corinne
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne
      • Corinne is located in Pushmataha County
    • Cloudy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloudy
      • Cloudy is located in Pushmataha County
    • Stanley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
      • Stanley is located in Pushmataha County
    • Adel
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adel have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adel
      • Adel is located in Pushmataha County
  • Atoka County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Rocks, with the one closest to Big Rocks listed first.
    • Lone Pine
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
      • Lone Pine is located in Atoka County
    • Farris
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Daisy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Lane
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Bentley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentley
      • Bentley is located in Atoka County
    • Bruno
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruno
      • Bruno is located in Atoka County
  • Bryan County
    • Bennington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennington
      • Bennington is located in Bryan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 374 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bennington <1>
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Rocks, with the one closest to Big Rocks listed first.
    • Apple
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple
      • Apple is located in Choctaw County
    • Spencerville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Hugo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugo
      • Hugo is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,070 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hugo <1>
    • Virgil
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
      • Virgil is located in Choctaw County
    • Soper
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Sawyer
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sawyer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sawyer
      • Sawyer is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 327 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sawyer <1>
    • Grant
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Fort Towson
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Towson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Towson
      • Fort Towson is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fort Towson <1>
    • Boswell
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Swink
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Frogville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frogville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogville
      • Frogville is located in Choctaw County
  • McCurtain County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Rocks, with the one closest to Big Rocks listed first.
    • Rufe
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Ringold
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Slim
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slim
      • Slim is located in McCurtain County
  • Lamar County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Rocks, with the one closest to Big Rocks listed first.
    • Chicota
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Razor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Razor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Razor
      • Razor is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Arthur City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arthur City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur City
      • Arthur City is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arthur City <1>
    • Garretts Bluff
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garretts Bluff
      • Garretts Bluff is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Midcity
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midcity
      • Midcity is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Midcity has also been known as:
      • Trout Spur
      • Trout
    • Powderly
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Camp Maxey ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Camp Maxey. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Maxey
      • Camp Maxey is located in Lamar County (TX)

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

Newspapers Published in Big Rocks ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Rocks.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Rocks, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Rocks.

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 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 Big Rocks:

Cemeteries Near Big Rocks ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Rocks.

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

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

  • Ethel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ethel Cemetery
  • Odd Fellows Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Odd Fellows Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Odd Fellows Cemetery
  • White Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Church Cemetery
  • Antlers City Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Antlers City Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Antlers City Cemetery
  • Edwards Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Edwards Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Edwards Cemetery
  • Finley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Finley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Finley Cemetery
  • Moyers Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moyers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moyers Cemetery
  • Kosoma Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kosoma Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kosoma Cemetery
  • Belzoni Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Belzoni Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Belzoni Cemetery
  • Rocky Point Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rocky Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rocky Point Cemetery
  • Cooksville Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cooksville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cooksville Cemetery
  • Sugar Creek Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (98 more) ...
    • Rattan Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Messer Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Messer Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Messer Cemetery
    • One Creek Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the One Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the One 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.<6>

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

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

  • Chicota
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Arthur City
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arthur City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur City
    • Arthur City is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arthur City <1>
  • Powderly
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)

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

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

The official website for State of Oklahoma: https://www.ok.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>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>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 from Point A (ie- Big Rocks) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Rocks. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.2295, Longitude: -95.5730       In this case, the coordinates for Big Rocks have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Big Rocks, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024