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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 Rush Springs (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 Rush Springs. 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 Rush Springs ...

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 Rush Springs: Rush Spgs. (or less commonly used: Rush Spngs. or Rush Sprngs.)

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Rush Springs 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 Rush Springs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Rush Springs:

  • Grady County     (The home county of Rush Springs)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rush Springs, with the one closest to Rush Springs listed first.
    • Agawam
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Agawam is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agawam
    • East Ninnekah
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • East Ninnekah is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Ninnekah
    • Ninnekah
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Cox City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Cox City is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cox City
    • Alex
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Norge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Norge is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norge
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
    • Bradley
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Chickasha
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Tabler
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Tabler is located in Grady County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabler
    • Verden
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Amber
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Pocasset
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Caddo County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rush Springs, with the one closest to Rush Springs listed first.
    • Cement
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cyril
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Indian City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Indian City is located in Caddo County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian City
    • Apache
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Anadarko
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Carter County
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rush Springs, with the one closest to Rush Springs listed first.
    • Sterling
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Fletcher
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Bethel
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Bethel is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
    • 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
    • Elgin
      (19 miles [30.6 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>
    • Lakeside Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Lakeside Village is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside Village
    • Richards Spur ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Richards Spur is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richards Spur
    • Fort Sill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Lawton
      (27 miles [43.5 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>
    • Artillery Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Artillery Village is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Artillery Village
    • Medicine Park
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Cotton County
    • Hulen
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Hulen is located in Cotton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulen
  • Garvin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rush Springs, with the one closest to Rush Springs listed first.
    • Erin Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 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
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Wallville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Wallville is located in Garvin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wallville
    • Foster
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pernell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • McClain County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rush Springs, with the one closest to Rush Springs listed first.
    • Payne
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Payne is located in McClain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payne
    • Criner
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Criner is located in McClain County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Criner
    • Dibble
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Blanchard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Stephens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rush Springs, with the one closest to Rush Springs listed first.
    • Marlow
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Bray
      (13 miles [20.9 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>
    • Central High
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Central High is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central High
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,171 people
    • Duncan
      (18 miles [29 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>
    • Oil City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Oil City is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oil City
    • Empire City
      (21 miles [33.8 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
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Gas City is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gas City
    • Meridian
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Meridian is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meridian
    • Velma
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Comanche
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)

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

Cemeteries Near Rush Springs ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rush Springs.

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 Rush Springs - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Rush Springs Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Westview Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
  • Ridley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Woodlawn Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Simpson Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Marlow Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Bailey Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Woods Memorial Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Ninnekah Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Sterling Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Denton Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Short Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (98 more) ...

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

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

  • Anadarko
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Fort Sill
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Rush Springs ...

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 65 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rush Springs.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Rush Springs. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Rush Springs and those printed in the larger area surrounding Rush Springs.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3> of Rush Springs.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Rush Springs:

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rush Springs) 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 Rush Springs, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.