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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 Stephens Gap (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 Stephens Gap. 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 Stephens Gap ...

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.

While the name of this community is Stephens Gap, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Stephens Gap may originally have been Stephen's Gap.

Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Stephens Gap might be written as Stephen Gap.

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 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.

Stephens Gap is located in McCurtain 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 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 Stephens Gap. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Stephens Gap:

  • McCurtain County     (The home county of Stephens Gap)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stephens Gap, with the one closest to Stephens Gap listed first.
    • Hochatown
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Broken Bow
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Eagletown
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Holly Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Creek
      • Holly Creek is located in McCurtain County
    • Golden
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bethel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wright City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wright City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wright City
      • Wright City is located in McCurtain County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 730 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wright City <2>
    • Idabel
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idabel
      • Idabel is located in McCurtain County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,876 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Idabel <2>
    • Garvin
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Watson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Battiest
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Haworth
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Millerton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millerton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millerton
      • Millerton is located in McCurtain County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Millerton <2>
  • Choctaw County
  • Le Flore County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stephens Gap, with the one closest to Stephens Gap listed first.
    • Octavia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Ludlow
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ludlow have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludlow
      • Ludlow is located in Le Flore County
    • Honobia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Little River County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stephens Gap, with the one closest to Stephens Gap listed first.
    • Cerrogordo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cerrogordo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerrogordo
      • Cerrogordo is located in Little River County (AR)
    • Winthrop
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winthrop
      • Winthrop is located in Little River County (AR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winthrop <2>
  • Polk County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stephens Gap, with the one closest to Stephens Gap listed first.
    • Bog Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bog Springs
      • Bog Springs is located in Polk County (AR)
    • Grannis
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grannis have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grannis
      • Grannis is located in Polk County (AR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 566 people
    • Hatton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hatton
      • Hatton is located in Polk County (AR)
    • Wickes
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wickes have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wickes
      • Wickes is located in Polk County (AR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 741 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wickes <2>
    • Vandervoort
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vandervoort have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vandervoort
      • Vandervoort is located in Polk County (AR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 85 people
    • Cove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove
      • Cove is located in Polk County (AR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cove <2>
    • Hatfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Sevier County (AR)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stephens Gap, with the one closest to Stephens Gap listed first.
    • De Queen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for De Queen have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Queen
      • De Queen is located in Sevier County (AR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,406 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for De Queen <2>
    • Process City
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Process City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Process City
      • Process City is located in Sevier County (AR)
    • Gillham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gillham
      • Gillham is located in Sevier County (AR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 155 people
    • Horatio
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Horatio have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Horatio
      • Horatio is located in Sevier County (AR)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,011 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Horatio <2>
    • Norwoodville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwoodville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwoodville
      • Norwoodville is located in Sevier County (AR)
  • Red River County (TX)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Stephens Gap, with the one closest to Stephens Gap listed first.
    • Greenwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
      • Greenwood is located in Red River County (TX)
    • Silver City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silver City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
      • Silver City is located in Red River County (TX)

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

Newspapers Published in Stephens Gap ...

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 39 newspapers that have been published in the area around Stephens Gap.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Stephens Gap, 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 Stephens Gap.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Stephens Gap:

Cemeteries Near Stephens Gap ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Stephens Gap.

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 Stephens Gap covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

  • Hochatown Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Sweet Home Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sweet Home Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sweet Home Cemetery
  • Lukfata Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lukfata Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lukfata Cemetery
  • Crown Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crown Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crown Hill Cemetery
  • Eagletown Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Eagletown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Eagletown Cemetery
  • Watsons Memorial Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Watsons Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Watsons Memorial Cemetery
  • Tonka Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tonka Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tonka Cemetery
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Ultima Thule Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ultima Thule Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ultima Thule Cemetery
  • Cane Creek Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cane Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cane Creek Cemetery
  • Mill Creek Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Redland Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Redland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Redland Cemetery
  • Continue List   (88 more) ...
    • West Line Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the West Line Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the West Line Cemetery
    • Philadelphia Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Philadelphia Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Philadelphia Cemetery
    • Denison Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Denison Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Denison Cemetery

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.<6>

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

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

  • Chapel Hill
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chapel Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapel Hill
    • Chapel Hill is located in Sevier County (AR)
  • Cerrogordo
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cerrogordo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cerrogordo
    • Cerrogordo is located in Little River County (AR)
  • Norwoodville
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norwoodville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norwoodville
    • Norwoodville is located in Sevier County (AR)
  • Cove
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cove
    • Cove is located in Polk County (AR)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 370 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cove <2>
  • Albion
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Albion have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
    • Albion is located in Red River County (TX)
  • Antimony ‑ Historic
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Antimony have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antimony
    • Antimony is located in Howard County (AR)
  • Duckett
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duckett have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duckett
    • Duckett is located in Howard County (AR)

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

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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- Stephens Gap) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Stephens Gap. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.1573, Longitude: -94.7002       In this case, the coordinates for Stephens Gap have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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>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 Stephens Gap, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024