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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 Crystal (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 Crystal. 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 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.

Crystal is located in Atoka 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 Atoka County: Bryan, Choctaw, Coal, Johnston, Pittsburg & Pushmataha.

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

  • Atoka County     (The home county of Crystal)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal, with the one closest to Crystal listed first.
    • Farris
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lane
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Lone Pine
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Lone Pine is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
    • Bentley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Bentley is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentley
    • Bruno
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Bruno is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruno
    • Tushka
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Tushka is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tushka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Atoka
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Caney
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Stringtown
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Daisy
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Wardville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Bryan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal, with the one closest to Crystal listed first.
    • Matoy
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Matoy is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoy
    • Bennington
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Bokchito
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Caddo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Wade
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Wade is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade
    • Kenefic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Armstrong
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Armstrong is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armstrong
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
    • Albany
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Durant
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal, with the one closest to Crystal listed first.
    • Boswell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Soper
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Hugo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Hugo is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugo
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,070 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hugo <1>
    • Apple
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Apple is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple
    • Grant
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Coal County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal, with the one closest to Crystal listed first.
    • Lehigh
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Phillips
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Phillips is located in Coal County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillips
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
    • Coalgate
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Johnston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal, with the one closest to Crystal listed first.
    • Coleman
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Wapanucka
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Pushmataha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal, with the one closest to Crystal listed first.
    • Moyers
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Antlers
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Ethel
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Ethel is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
    • Eubanks
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Eubanks is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eubanks
    • Finley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Belzoni
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Belzoni is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belzoni
    • Rattan
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Lamar County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crystal, with the one closest to Crystal listed first.
    • Garretts Bluff
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Garretts Bluff is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garretts Bluff
    • Direct
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Direct is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Direct
    • Belk
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Belk is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belk
    • Razor
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Razor is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Razor

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

Cemeteries Near Crystal ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Crystal.

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 Crystal - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Crystal covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Crystal Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Butler Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Butler Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Butler Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<2> to the southeast of Lane.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #98066 <3>
  • Farris Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Double Springs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Cane Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Bentley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Matoy Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Jones Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Darwin Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Sugarloaf Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Buffalo Creek Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Bera Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bera Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Bera Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 5 miles [8 km]<2> to the east of Tushka.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1980933 <3>
  • Continue List   (122 more) ...
    • Turnbull Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Hunter Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Zoraya Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 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.<4>

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

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

  • Direct
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Direct is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Direct
  • Elwood
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Elwood is located in Fannin County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwood

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

Newspapers Published in Crystal ...

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 76 newspapers that have been published in the area around Crystal.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Crystal, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Crystal.

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 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 Crystal:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Crystal) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<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 Crystal, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.