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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 Darwin (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 Darwin. 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 hospitals and 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.

Darwin is primarily located in Atoka County. A portion of Darwin extends into Pushmataha 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 Darwin. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Darwin:

  • Atoka County     (The home county of Darwin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Lone Pine
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Lone Pine is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
    • Farris
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Lane
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Bentley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Bentley is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentley
    • Bruno
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Bruno is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruno
    • Daisy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Stringtown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Atoka
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Tushka
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Tushka is located in Atoka County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tushka
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Caney
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Bryan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Matoy
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Matoy is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matoy
    • Bennington
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bokchito
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Caddo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Wade
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Wade is located in Bryan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Boswell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Soper
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Apple
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Apple is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple
    • Hugo
      (22 miles [35.4 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>
    • Spencerville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Grant
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Virgil
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Virgil is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
    • Sawyer
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Coal County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Lehigh
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Phillips
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Phillips is located in Coal County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phillips
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 130 people
  • Pushmataha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Antlers
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Moyers
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ethel
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Ethel is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
    • Eubanks
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Eubanks is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eubanks
    • Finley
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Belzoni
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Belzoni is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belzoni
    • Rattan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Snow
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Oleta
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Oleta is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleta
    • Adel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Adel is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adel
    • Stanley
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Stanley is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
    • Cloudy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Cloudy is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloudy
  • Lamar County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Darwin, with the one closest to Darwin listed first.
    • Garretts Bluff
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Garretts Bluff is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garretts Bluff
    • Razor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Razor is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Razor
    • Belk
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Belk is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belk
    • Chicota
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Direct
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Direct is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Direct
    • Arthur City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Darwin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Darwin.

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

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

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

  • Darwin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Sugarloaf Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Miller Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Zoraya Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Farris Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Rocky Point Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Edwards Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Antlers City Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Moyers Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Crystal Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Pierce Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Sugar Creek Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (116 more) ...
    • Odd Fellows Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Holder Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Butler Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • 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]<3> to the southeast of Lane.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #98066 <2>

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 Darwin in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Darwin.

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

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

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

Newspapers Published in Darwin ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Darwin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Darwin, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Darwin.

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 Darwin:

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>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- Darwin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Darwin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.