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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 Lake West (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 Lake West. 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 Lake West ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Lake West: Lk. West

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 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.

Lake West is located in Bryan 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 Bryan County: Atoka, Choctaw, Johnston, Marshall, Fannin (TX), Grayson (TX) & Lamar (TX).

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

  • Bryan County     (The home county of Lake West)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake West, with the one closest to Lake West listed first.
    • Bennington
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bennington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bennington
      • Bennington is located in Bryan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 374 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bennington <2>
    • Wade
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wade
      • Wade is located in Bryan County
    • Albany
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Bokchito
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bokchito have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bokchito
      • Bokchito is located in Bryan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 704 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bokchito <2>
    • Yuba
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yuba have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuba
      • Yuba is located in Bryan County
    • Yarnaby
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yarnaby
      • Yarnaby is located in Bryan County
    • Caddo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Armstrong
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Armstrong
      • Armstrong is located in Bryan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 111 people
    • Kemp
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kemp have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kemp
      • Kemp is located in Bryan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 156 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kemp <2>
    • Achille
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Achille have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Achille
      • Achille is located in Bryan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 550 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Achille <2>
    • Durant
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Atoka County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake West, with the one closest to Lake West listed first.
    • Lone Pine
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Pine
      • Lone Pine is located in Atoka County
    • Bentley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bentley
      • Bentley is located in Atoka County
    • Farris
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Lane
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Caney
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake West, with the one closest to Lake West listed first.
    • Boswell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Soper
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Grant
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Hugo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hugo
      • Hugo is located in Choctaw County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,070 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hugo <2>
  • Pushmataha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake West, with the one closest to Lake West listed first.
    • Antlers
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Ethel
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
      • Ethel is located in Pushmataha County
  • Delta County (TX)
    • Ben Franklin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ben Franklin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ben Franklin
      • Ben Franklin is located in Delta County (TX)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ben Franklin <2>
  • Fannin County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake West, with the one closest to Lake West listed first.
    • Telephone
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Carson
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carson
      • Carson is located in Fannin County (TX)
    • Allen Point
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen Point
      • Allen Point is located in Fannin County (TX)
    • Allens Chapel
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allens Chapel
      • Allens Chapel is located in Fannin County (TX)
    • Ivanhoe
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Sowells Bluff
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sowells Bluff
      • Sowells Bluff is located in Fannin County (TX)
    • Honey Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Ridings
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridings
      • Ridings is located in Fannin County (TX)
    • Windom
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Windom have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Windom
      • Windom is located in Fannin County (TX)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Windom <2>
    • Boyd
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyd
      • Boyd is located in Fannin County (TX)
    • Dodd City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Mulberry
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mulberry
      • Mulberry is located in Fannin County (TX)
  • Lamar County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake West, with the one closest to Lake West listed first.
    • Direct
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Direct
      • Direct is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Garretts Bluff
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garretts Bluff
      • Garretts Bluff is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Razor
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Razor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Razor
      • Razor is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Sumner
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sumner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumner
      • Sumner is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sumner <2>
    • Chicota
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Caviness
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caviness
      • Caviness is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Hopewell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hopewell
      • Hopewell is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Petty
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petty have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petty
      • Petty is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Petty <2>
    • Arthur City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Arthur City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arthur City
      • Arthur City is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arthur City <2>
    • Camp Maxey ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Camp Maxey. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camp Maxey
      • Camp Maxey is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Midcity
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midcity
      • Midcity is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Midcity has also been known as:
      • Trout Spur
      • Trout
    • Brookston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookston
      • Brookston is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brookston <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Lake West ...

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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake West.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake West, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake West.

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 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 Lake West:

Cemeteries Near Lake West ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake West.

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

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

  • Crowder Springs Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crowder Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crowder Springs Cemetery
  • Crowder Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crowder Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crowder Cemetery
  • Arch Chapel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Arch Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Arch Chapel Cemetery
  • Forest Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Forest Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Forest Grove Cemetery
  • Pyles Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pyles Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pyles Cemetery
  • Community Hall Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Community Hall Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Community Hall Cemetery
  • Wade Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wade Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wade Cemetery
  • Restland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Julius Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Julius Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Julius Cemetery
  • Wade Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Bigsby Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bigsby Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bigsby Cemetery
  • Hunter Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hunter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hunter Cemetery
  • Continue List   (180 more) ...
    • Post Oak Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Post Oak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Post Oak Cemetery
    • McGee Springs Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McGee Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McGee Springs Cemetery
    • Bluff Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bluff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bluff 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.<6>

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

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

  • Direct
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Direct
    • Direct is located in Lamar County (TX)
  • Monkstown
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Monkstown have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monkstown
    • Monkstown is located in Fannin County (TX)
  • Telephone
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Elwood
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elwood
    • Elwood is located in Fannin County (TX)
  • Selfs
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selfs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selfs
    • Selfs is located in Fannin County (TX)
  • Maxey
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxey have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxey
    • Maxey is located in Lamar County (TX)
  • Duplex
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duplex have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duplex
    • Duplex is located in Fannin County (TX)
  • Sumner
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sumner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumner
    • Sumner is located in Lamar County (TX)
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sumner <2>
  • Emberson
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Emberson have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emberson
    • Emberson is located in Lamar County (TX)
  • Lamasco
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lamasco have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamasco
    • Lamasco is located in Fannin County (TX)
  • Chicota
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Ivanhoe
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Petty
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petty have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petty
      • Petty is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Petty <2>
    • Honey Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • High
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for High have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for High
      • High is located in Lamar County (TX)

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

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Lake West) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Lake West. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.8959, Longitude: -95.8855       In this case, the coordinates for Lake West have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Lake West, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024