RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Oklahoma >> Roger Mills County >> Durham >> Genealogy HelperIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Oklahoma

The Commemorative Quarter for Oklahoma





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 Durham (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 Durham. 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 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 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.

Durham is located in Roger Mills 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 Roger Mills County: Beckham, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Hemphill (TX) & Wheeler (TX).

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

  • Roger Mills County     (The home county of Durham)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Durham, with the one closest to Durham listed first.
    • Crawford
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Roll
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roll
      • Roll is located in Roger Mills County
    • Reydon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reydon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reydon
      • Reydon is located in Roger Mills County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 205 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reydon <1>
    • Cheyenne
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Strong City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Strong City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Strong City
      • Strong City is located in Roger Mills County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 46 people
  • Beckham County
    • Sweetwater
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Ellis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Durham, with the one closest to Durham listed first.
    • Arnett
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Shattuck
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Hemphill County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Durham, with the one closest to Durham listed first.
    • Glazier
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glazier
      • Glazier is located in Hemphill County (TX)
    • Clear Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Canadian
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canadian
      • Canadian is located in Hemphill County (TX)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,677 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canadian <1>
  • Lipscomb County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Durham, with the one closest to Durham listed first.
    • Higgins
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higgins
      • Higgins is located in Lipscomb County (TX)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 378 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Higgins <1>
    • Locust Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locust Grove
      • Locust Grove is located in Lipscomb County (TX)
  • Wheeler County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Durham, with the one closest to Durham listed first.
    • Allison
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Zybach ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zybach
      • Zybach is located in Wheeler County (TX)
    • Briscoe
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Briscoe have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briscoe
      • Briscoe is located in Wheeler County (TX)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Briscoe <1>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Durham ...

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 36 newspapers that have been published in the area around Durham.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Durham. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Durham and those printed in the larger area surrounding Durham.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Durham.

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 professional and volunteer 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 Durham:

Cemeteries Near Durham ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Durham.

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

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

  • Fairview Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
  • Lindley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lindley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lindley Cemetery
  • Prairie Dell Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie Dell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie Dell Cemetery
  • Lone Tree Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Tree Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Tree Cemetery
  • Union Chapel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Sunrise Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sunrise Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sunrise Cemetery
  • Belleview Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Belleview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Belleview Cemetery
  • Silent Home Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Silent Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Silent Home Cemetery
  • Pie Flat Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pie Flat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pie Flat Cemetery
  • Grand Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grand Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grand Cemetery
  • Cataline Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cataline Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cataline Cemetery
  • White Rose Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Rose Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Rose Cemetery
  • Continue List   (32 more) ...
    • Allmon Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Allmon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Allmon Cemetery
    • Lone Bell Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lone Bell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lone Bell Cemetery
    • Higgins Cemetery
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)

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

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

  • Higgins
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higgins
    • Higgins is located in Lipscomb County (TX)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 378 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Higgins <1>
  • Cheyenne
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Glazier
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glazier
    • Glazier is located in Hemphill County (TX)
  • Canadian
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Canadian
    • Canadian is located in Hemphill County (TX)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,677 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Canadian <1>
  • Sweetwater
    (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 Durham. See our List of 1890's Communities around Durham.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Durham. 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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Durham) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Durham. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.8431, Longitude: -99.9255    
<4>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.
<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 Durham, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

Copyright 2024
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024