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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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Rocky Ford: Rocky Frd.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Rocky Ford. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Rocky Ford.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Rocky Ford is located in Grady 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 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)
      • Agawam is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agawam
    • Rush Springs
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • East Ninnekah
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • East Ninnekah is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Ninnekah
    • Ninnekah
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Norge
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Norge is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norge
      • 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)
    • Alex
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Tabler
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Tabler is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabler
    • Bradley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Cox City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Cox City is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cox City
    • 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)
    • Cyril
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Indian City is located in Caddo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian City
    • 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)
    • Alden
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Alden is located in Caddo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alden
  • 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)
      • 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>
    • Bethel
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Bethel is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • Lakeside Village
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Lakeside Village is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
    • Richards Spur ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Richards Spur is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richards Spur
    • Pumpkin Center ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Pumpkin Center is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pumpkin Center
    • Fort Sill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Artillery Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Artillery Village is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artillery Village
    • Lawton
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • 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
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Meers
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Cotton County
    • Hulen
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Hulen is located in Cotton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulen
  • 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)
      • Erin Springs is located in Garvin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin Springs
      • 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)
    • Criner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Criner is located in McClain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Criner
    • Payne
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Payne is located in McClain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payne
  • 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)
      • Central High is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central High
      • 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)
      • 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>
    • Oil City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Oil City is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City
    • Duncan
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • 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>
    • Empire City
      (25 miles [40.2 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
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Gas City is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas City
    • Meridian
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Meridian is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian

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.

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 Rocky Ford - one of the links might be able to help.

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)
  • Simpson Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Little Washita Indian Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Washita Indian Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Mountain View Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Ridley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Westview Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cement Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Celestial Gardens Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • 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)
    • Laverty Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Ninnekah Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)

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.<4>

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]<3>. 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 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 Rocky Ford:

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Rocky Ford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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.