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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 Burns Flat (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 Burns Flat. 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 Burns Flat ...

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 have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Burns Flat: Burns Flt.
  • While the name of this town is Burns Flat, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Burns Flat may originally have been Burn's Flat.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Burns Flat might be written as Burn Flat.

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 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 and hospitals 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.

Burns Flat is located in Washita 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 Washita County: Beckham, Caddo, Custer & Kiowa.

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

  • Washita County     (The home county of Burns Flat)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns Flat, with the one closest to Burns Flat listed first.
    • Dill City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dill City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dill City
      • Dill City is located in Washita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 527 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dill City <3>
    • Foss
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Foss have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Foss
      • Foss is located in Washita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 146 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Foss <3>
    • Canute
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Bessie
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bessie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bessie
      • Bessie is located in Washita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bessie <3>
    • New Cordell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Cordell
      • New Cordell is located in Washita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,708 people
      • New Cordell has also been known as:
      • Cordell
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Cordell <3>
    • Sentinel
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Rocky
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky
      • Rocky is located in Washita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 151 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rocky <3>
    • Corn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Corn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corn
      • Corn is located in Washita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 467 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Corn <3>
    • Colony
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
      • Colony is located in Washita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 129 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colony <3>
  • Beckham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns Flat, with the one closest to Burns Flat listed first.
    • Elk City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elk City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk City
      • Elk City is located in Beckham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,354 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elk City <3>
    • Carter
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Sayre
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sayre have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayre
      • Sayre is located in Beckham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,435 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sayre <3>
    • Delhi
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delhi
      • Delhi is located in Beckham County
  • Custer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns Flat, with the one closest to Burns Flat listed first.
    • Clinton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Carpenter
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carpenter
      • Carpenter is located in Custer County
    • Butler
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Butler have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler
      • Butler is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 289 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Butler <3>
    • Arapaho
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Custer City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Weatherford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weatherford have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weatherford
      • Weatherford is located in Custer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,901 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weatherford <3>
  • Greer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns Flat, with the one closest to Burns Flat listed first.
    • Willow
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Willow have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow
      • Willow is located in Greer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 136 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willow <3>
    • Granite
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Granite have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Granite
      • Granite is located in Greer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,956 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Granite <3>
  • Kiowa County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns Flat, with the one closest to Burns Flat listed first.
    • Hobart
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Lone Wolf
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Gotebo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gotebo have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gotebo
      • Gotebo is located in Kiowa County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gotebo <3>
    • Mountain View
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Roger Mills County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Burns Flat, with the one closest to Burns Flat listed first.
    • Hammon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammon
      • Hammon is located in Roger Mills County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 555 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hammon <3>
    • Berlin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
      • Berlin is located in Roger Mills County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Burns Flat ...

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 129 newspapers that have been published in the area around Burns Flat.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Burns Flat. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Burns Flat and those printed in the larger area surrounding Burns Flat.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Burns Flat.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Burns Flat:

Cemeteries Near Burns Flat ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Burns Flat.

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

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

  • Novis Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Novis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Novis Cemetery
  • Page Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Page Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Page Cemetery
  • North Burns Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the North Burns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the North Burns Cemetery
  • Boggy Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Boggy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Boggy Cemetery
  • Old Boggy Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Boggy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Boggy Cemetery
  • St. Francis Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Cemetery
  • South Burns Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the South Burns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the South Burns Cemetery
  • Kerns Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kerns Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kerns Cemetery
  • New Foss Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Foss Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Foss Cemetery
  • Old Foss Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Foss Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Foss Cemetery
  • Dugford Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dugford Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dugford Cemetery
  • Holy Family Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holy Family Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holy Family Cemetery
  • Continue List   (117 more) ...
    • Edwardsville Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Edwardsville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Edwardsville Cemetery
    • Hebron Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hebron Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hebron Cemetery
    • Liberty Bell Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Liberty Bell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Liberty Bell 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 Burns Flat in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Burns Flat.

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

  • New Cordell
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Cordell
    • New Cordell is located in Washita County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,708 people
    • New Cordell has also been known as:
    • Cordell
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Cordell <3>
  • Rainy ‑ Historic
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rainy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rainy
    • Rainy is located in Washita County
  • Cloud Chief
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cloud Chief have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloud Chief
    • Cloud Chief is located in Washita County
  • Arapaho
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Hammon
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammon
    • Hammon is located in Roger Mills County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 555 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hammon <3>

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

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

The official website for State of Oklahoma: https://www.ok.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- Burns Flat) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Burns Flat. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.3548, Longitude: -99.1750       In this case, the coordinates for Burns Flat have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Burns Flat, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024