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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 Rocky Ford (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 Rocky Ford. 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 Rocky Ford ...

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 Rocky Ford: Rocky Frd.

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 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.

Rocky Ford is located in Grady 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 Grady County: Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche, Garvin, McClain & Stephens.

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

  • Grady County     (The home county of Rocky Ford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Ford, with the one closest to Rocky Ford listed first.
    • Agawam
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Agawam. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agawam
      • Agawam is located in Grady County
    • Rush Springs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rush Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rush Springs
      • Rush Springs is located in Grady County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,252 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rush Springs <3>
    • East Ninnekah
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Ninnekah came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Ninnekah
      • East Ninnekah is located in Grady County
    • Ninnekah
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ninnekah have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ninnekah
      • Ninnekah is located in Grady County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,042 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ninnekah <3>
    • Norge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norge
      • Norge is located in Grady County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
    • Chickasha
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Verden
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Verden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Verden
      • Verden is located in Grady County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 536 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Verden <3>
    • Alex
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Tabler
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabler
      • Tabler is located in Grady County
    • Bradley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Cox City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cox City
      • Cox City is located in Grady County
    • Amber
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Caddo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Ford, with the one closest to Rocky Ford listed first.
    • Cement
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cement have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cement
      • Cement is located in Caddo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 471 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cement <3>
    • Cyril
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cyril have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyril
      • Cyril is located in Caddo County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,002 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cyril <3>
    • Indian City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian City
      • Indian City is located in Caddo County
    • Apache
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Anadarko
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Washita
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Gracemont
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Fort Cobb
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Ford, with the one closest to Rocky Ford listed first.
    • Sterling
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Fletcher
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Elgin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elgin have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elgin
      • Elgin is located in Comanche County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,236 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elgin <3>
    • Bethel
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
      • Bethel is located in Comanche County
    • Lakeside Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeside Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
      • Lakeside Village is located in Comanche County
    • Richards Spur ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Richards Spur. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richards Spur
      • Richards Spur is located in Comanche County
    • Pumpkin Center ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pumpkin Center. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
      • Pumpkin Center is located in Comanche County
    • Fort Sill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Artillery Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Artillery Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artillery Village
      • Artillery Village is located in Comanche County
    • Lawton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
      • Lawton is located in Comanche County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 93,164 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lawton <3>
    • Medicine Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Medicine Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Medicine Park
      • Medicine Park is located in Comanche County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Medicine Park <3>
    • Meers
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Cotton County
    • Hulen
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulen
      • Hulen is located in Cotton County
  • Garvin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Ford, with the one closest to Rocky Ford listed first.
    • Erin Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erin Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin Springs
      • Erin Springs is located in Garvin County
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 87 people
    • Lindsay
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • McClain County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Ford, with the one closest to Rocky Ford listed first.
    • Dibble
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dibble have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dibble
      • Dibble is located in McClain County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 878 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dibble <3>
    • Criner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Criner
      • Criner is located in McClain County
    • Payne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Payne. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payne
      • Payne is located in McClain County
  • Stephens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rocky Ford, with the one closest to Rocky Ford listed first.
    • Central High
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Central High have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central High
      • Central High is located in Stephens County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,171 people
    • Marlow
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Bray
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bray have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bray
      • Bray is located in Stephens County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,178 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bray <3>
    • Oil City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oil City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City
      • Oil City is located in Stephens County
    • Duncan
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duncan
      • Duncan is located in Stephens County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 22,259 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Duncan <3>
    • Empire City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Empire City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Empire City
      • Empire City is located in Stephens County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 889 people
    • Gas City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gas City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas City
      • Gas City is located in Stephens County
    • Meridian
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Meridian have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
      • Meridian is located in Stephens County

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

Cemeteries Near Rocky Ford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rocky Ford.

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

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

  • Woods Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Woods Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Woods Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Simpson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Simpson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Simpson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Little Washita Indian Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Washita Indian Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Washita Indian Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Washita Indian Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Ridley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ridley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ridley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Westview Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Westview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Westview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cement Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cement Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cement Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Celestial Gardens Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Celestial Gardens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Celestial Gardens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Rush Springs Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Fletcher Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (90 more) ...
    • Sterling Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sterling Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sterling Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Laverty Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laverty Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laverty Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Ninnekah Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ninnekah Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ninnekah Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<7>

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

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

  • Anadarko
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Fort Sill
    (22 miles [35.4 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 Rocky Ford. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rocky Ford.

Newspapers Published in Rocky Ford ...

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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rocky Ford.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rocky Ford, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rocky Ford.

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 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 Rocky Ford:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<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>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- Rocky Ford) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rocky Ford. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.8453, Longitude: -98.0720       In this case, the coordinates for Rocky Ford have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>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 Rocky Ford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025