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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 Plainview (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 Plainview. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Plainview is located in McCurtain 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 McCurtain County: Little River (AR), Polk (AR), Sevier (AR), Choctaw, Le Flore, Pushmataha, Bowie (TX) & Red River (TX).

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

  • McCurtain County     (The home county of Plainview)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plainview, with the one closest to Plainview listed first.
    • Rufe
      (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Slim
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Slim is located in McCurtain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slim
    • Ringold
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Valliant
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Wright City
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Millerton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Golden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Garvin
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Holly Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Holly Creek is located in McCurtain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Creek
    • Pickens
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Hochatown
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Broken Bow
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Battiest
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Choctaw County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plainview, with the one closest to Plainview listed first.
    • Swink
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Fort Towson
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Spencerville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Sawyer
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Virgil
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Virgil is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virgil
    • Apple
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Apple is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple
    • Frogville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Frogville is located in Choctaw County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frogville
    • Hugo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • 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>
    • Grant
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Pushmataha County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plainview, with the one closest to Plainview listed first.
    • Corinne
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Corinne is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Corinne
    • Oleta
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Oleta is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oleta
    • Cloudy
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Cloudy is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cloudy
    • Rattan
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Belzoni
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Belzoni is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belzoni
    • Nolia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Nolia is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolia
    • Finley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Snow
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Ethel
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Ethel is located in Pushmataha County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
    • Nashoba
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Antlers
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Lamar County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plainview, with the one closest to Plainview listed first.
    • Pin Hook
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Pin Hook is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pin Hook
    • Arthur City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Novice
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Novice is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Novice
    • Midcity
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Midcity is located in Lamar County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Midcity
      • Midcity has also been known as:
      • Trout Spur
      • Trout
    • Chicota
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Red River County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plainview, with the one closest to Plainview listed first.
    • Albion
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Albion is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
    • Silver City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Silver City is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
    • Kanawha
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Kanawha is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanawha
    • Addielou
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Addielou is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addielou
    • Greenwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Greenwood is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Acworth
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Acworth is located in Red River County (TX)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acworth

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

Cemeteries Near Plainview ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Plainview.

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

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

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

  • Rufe Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Moran Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Sobol Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Wilson Chapel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Ringold Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Swink Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Valliant Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Old Ft. Towson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Black Jack Indian Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Goodwater Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Ft. Towson Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Corinne Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (67 more) ...
    • Clear Creek Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Spencerville Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Dixon Chapel Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)

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

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

  • Kanawha
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Kanawha is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kanawha
  • Manchester
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Manchester is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
  • Albion
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Albion is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
  • Woodland
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Woodland is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland
  • Arthur City
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Plainview ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Plainview.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Plainview, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Plainview.

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 Plainview:

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>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 Plainview, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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 from Point A (ie- Plainview) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.