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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 Ridley (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 Ridley. 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 doctors and 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.

Ridley is located in Comanche 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 Comanche County: Caddo, Cotton, Grady, Kiowa, Stephens & Tillman.

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

  • Comanche County     (The home county of Ridley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridley, with the one closest to Ridley listed first.
    • Fort Sill
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Richards Spur ‑ Historic
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Richards Spur is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richards Spur
    • Artillery Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Artillery Village is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artillery Village
    • Lakeside Village
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Lakeside Village is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
    • Elgin
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • 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>
    • Lawton
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Medicine Park
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Fletcher
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Sterling
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Meers
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Pumpkin Center ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pumpkin Center is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
    • The Holy City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • The Holy City is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Holy City
  • Caddo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridley, with the one closest to Ridley listed first.
    • Apache
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Cyril
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Cement
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Alden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Alden is located in Caddo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alden
    • Indian City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Indian City is located in Caddo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian City
    • Anadarko
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Fort Cobb
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Washita
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Carnegie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Cotton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridley, with the one closest to Ridley listed first.
    • Hulen
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Hulen is located in Cotton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulen
    • Walters
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Cookietown
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Cookietown is located in Cotton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cookietown
    • Temple
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Grady County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridley, with the one closest to Ridley listed first.
    • Rush Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Agawam
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Agawam is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agawam
    • Norge
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Norge is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
    • East Ninnekah
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • East Ninnekah is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Ninnekah
    • Ninnekah
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Verden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Kiowa County
    • Cooperton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Cooperton is located in Kiowa County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooperton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15 people
  • Stephens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ridley, with the one closest to Ridley listed first.
    • Central High
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Central High is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central High
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,171 people
    • Oil City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Oil City is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City
    • Marlow
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Empire City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Empire City is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 889 people
    • Gas City
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Gas City is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas City
    • Duncan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • 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>
    • Meridian
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Meridian is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian

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

Cemeteries Near Ridley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ridley.

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

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

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

  • Bailtso Apache South Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Beef Creek Apache Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Chief Chihuahua Apache Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Otipoby Comanche Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Ft. Sill Post Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Indian Agency Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Ft. Sill National Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Highland Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highland Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Highland Cemetery is a very large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Lawton.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #98639 <2>
  • Paradise Valley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Flower Mound Community Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Elgin Memorial Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Elgin Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (78 more) ...
    • St. Ann Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • St. Anns Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Mt. Scott Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Fort Sill
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Anadarko
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)

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

Newspapers Published in Ridley ...

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 167 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ridley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Ridley, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Ridley.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful 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 Ridley:

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 Ridley, 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' (or 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- Ridley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.