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 Calera (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 Calera. 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 southwest 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 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 west 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.
Calera is located in Bryan County.
To see how the shape of Oklahoma's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Bryan County: Atoka, Choctaw, Johnston, Marshall, Fannin (TX), Grayson (TX) & Lamar (TX).
Below are the counties that are near Calera. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Calera:
- Bryan County (The home county of Calera)
- The following are listed by their distance from Calera, with the one closest to Calera listed first.
- Durant
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Mead
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Colbert
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Platter
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Silo
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Silo is located in Bryan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silo
- Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
- Achille
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Armstrong
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Armstrong is located in Bryan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armstrong
- Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
- Cartwright
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Hendrix
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Kemp
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Yarnaby
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Yarnaby is located in Bryan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yarnaby
- Albany
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Kenefic
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Atoka County
- The following are listed by their distance from Calera, with the one closest to Calera listed first.
- Caney
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Bentley
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Bentley is located in Atoka County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentley
- Tushka
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Tushka is located in Atoka County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tushka
- Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
- Johnston County
- The following are listed by their distance from Calera, with the one closest to Calera listed first.
- Bee
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bee is located in Johnston County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee
- Milburn
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Coleman
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Tishomingo
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Ravia
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Wapanucka
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Mannsville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Calera, with the one closest to Calera listed first.
- McBride
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- McBride is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McBride
- Cumberland
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Cumberland is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cumberland
- New Woodville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- New Woodville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Woodville
- Population from the 2010 Census: 132 people
- Little City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Little City is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little City
- Kingston
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Shay
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Shay is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shay
- Madill
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Oakland
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Oakland is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,161 people
- Lebanon
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Fannin County (TX)
- The following are listed by their distance from Calera, with the one closest to Calera listed first.
- Mulberry
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mulberry is located in Fannin County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
- Sowells Bluff
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Sowells Bluff is located in Fannin County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sowells Bluff
- Ravenna
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ridings
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Ridings is located in Fannin County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridings
- Ivanhoe
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Savoy
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Boyd
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Boyd is located in Fannin County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
- Ector
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Telephone
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bonham
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Whitewright
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Carson
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Carson is located in Fannin County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carson
- Edhube
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Edhube is located in Fannin County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edhube
- Grayson County (TX)
- The following are listed by their distance from Calera, with the one closest to Calera listed first.
- Red River City
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Red River City is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red River City
- Preston
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Preston is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Denison
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Frontier Village
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Frontier Village is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier Village
- Pottsboro
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Twin City
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Twin City is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin City
- Knollwood
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Knollwood is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knollwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 503 people
- Locust
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Locust is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust
- Bells
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Bells is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,516 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bells <1>
- Sherman
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Cedar Mills
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Cedar Mills is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mills
- Sherwood Shores
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Sherwood Shores is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherwood Shores
- Ida
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Ida is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Calera, see our County-by-County Page for Calera.
Cemeteries Near Calera ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Calera.
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 Calera - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Calera covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Calera, with the one closest to Calera listed first.
- Rose Hill Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Highland Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Highland Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Durant.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #98637 <2>
- Harrison Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- Pioneer Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Franklin Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Willis Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Platter Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Garden of Memory Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden of Memory Cemetery
- The Garden of Memory Cemetery has also been known as:
- Colbert Cemetery
- Colbert Garden of Memory Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #98491 <2>
- Mead Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Love Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Rosewood Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Burney Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Continue List (242 more) ...
- Cox Chapel Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Keffer Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Brown Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
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.<3>
While we didn't find Calera in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Calera.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Calera, with the one closest to Calera listed first.
- Ray
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Ray is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ray
- Preston
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Preston is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Preston
- Denison
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Mulberry
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Mulberry is located in Fannin County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
- Duplex
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Duplex is located in Fannin County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duplex
- Ravenna
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Bells
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
- Bells is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,516 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bells <1>
- Ivanhoe
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Elwood
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Elwood is located in Fannin County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwood
- Cedar Mills
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Cedar Mills is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Mills
- Sherman
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Savoy
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Continue List (17 more) ...
- Ida
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Ida is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ida
- Gordonville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Steedham
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Steedham is located in Grayson County (TX)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steedham
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Calera. See our List of 1890's Communities around Calera.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Calera ...
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 92 newspapers that have been published in the area around Calera.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Calera. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Calera and those printed in the larger area surrounding Calera.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Calera.
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 Calera:
- Websites specific to Oklahoma
- Pages specific to Bryan County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Atoka County
- Johnston County
- Marshall County
- Fannin County
- Grayson County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Oklahoma
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 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. |
| <3> | 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 Calera, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Calera) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |