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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 Oil City (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 Oil City. 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.

Oil City is located in Stephens 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 Stephens County: Carter, Comanche, Cotton, Garvin, Grady & Jefferson.

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

  • Stephens County     (The home county of Oil City)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oil City, with the one closest to Oil City listed first.
    • Empire City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
      • Empire City is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 889 people
    • Gas City
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Gas City is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas City
    • Duncan
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Duncan is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,259 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Duncan <1>
    • Central High
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Central High is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central High
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,171 people
    • Meridian
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Meridian is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
    • Marlow
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Comanche
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Bray
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Bray is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bray
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,178 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bray <1>
    • Velma
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Loco
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Loco is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loco
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 118 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loco <1>
  • Caddo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oil City, with the one closest to Oil City listed first.
    • Cyril
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Cement
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Apache
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Carter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oil City, with the one closest to Oil City listed first.
    • Countyline
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Tussy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oil City, with the one closest to Oil City listed first.
    • Bethel
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Bethel is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • Pumpkin Center ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Pumpkin Center is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
    • Sterling
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Geronimo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Lawton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Lawton is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 93,164 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawton <1>
    • Artillery Village
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Artillery Village is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artillery Village
    • Elgin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Elgin is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,236 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elgin <1>
    • Fort Sill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Fletcher
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Richards Spur ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Richards Spur is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richards Spur
    • Lakeside Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Lakeside Village is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
    • Medicine Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Faxon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Cotton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oil City, with the one closest to Oil City listed first.
    • Hulen
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Hulen is located in Cotton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulen
    • Walters
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Walters is located in Cotton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,357 people
      • Former name for Walters:
      • Walter
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Walters <1>
    • Temple
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Cookietown
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Cookietown is located in Cotton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cookietown
    • Taylor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Taylor is located in Cotton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
  • Grady County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oil City, with the one closest to Oil City listed first.
    • Rush Springs
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Cox City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Cox City is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cox City
    • Agawam
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Agawam is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agawam
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oil City, with the one closest to Oil City listed first.
    • Addington
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Hastings
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Waurika
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Sugden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Sugden is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugden
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people

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

Cemeteries Near Oil City ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oil City.

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 Oil City - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Rock Creek Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Comanche Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Folsom Foster Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Duncan Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Resthaven Memorial Gardens
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Resthaven Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Henderson - Harris Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Duncan Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Letitia Community Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Corum Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Denton Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (80 more) ...
    • Shakelford Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shakelford Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Shakelford Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<2> to the northeast of Walters.
    • Fairlawn Cemeteries
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Tucker Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)

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

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

Newspapers Published in Oil City ...

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 99 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oil City.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oil City, 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 Oil City.

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 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 Oil City:

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Oil City) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Oil City, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.