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 Waco (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 Waco. 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 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.
Waco is located in Giles County.
To see how the shape of Tennessee's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Giles County: Limestone (AL), Lawrence, Lincoln, Marshall & Maury.
Below are the counties that are near Waco. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Waco:
- Giles County (The home county of Waco)
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Lynnville
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Bufords
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Bufords is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bufords
- Olivet
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Olivet is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
- Population from the 2010 Census: 1,350 people
- Campbellsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Campbellsville is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbellsville
- Wales
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Wales is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wales
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,031 people
- Liberty Hill
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Liberty Hill is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
- Powell Chapel
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Powell Chapel is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell Chapel
- Gordon
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Gordon is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gordon
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,192 people
- Trigg
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Trigg is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trigg
- Estimated population in 2014: 851 people
- Weakley
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Weakley is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weakley
- Pulaski
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Bodenham
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bodenham is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bodenham
- Bedford County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Palmetto
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Palmetto is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmetto
- Estimated population in 2014: 661 people
- Whitaker
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Whitaker is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitaker
- Anchor Mill ‑ Historic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Anchor Mill is located in Bedford County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anchor Mill
- Unionville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hickman County
- Duck River
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Duck River is located in Hickman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duck River
- Lawrence County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Webber City
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Webber City is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Webber City
- Ethridge
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- New Prospect
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- New Prospect is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Prospect
- Estimated population in 2014: 6,880 people
- Flatwoods
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Flatwoods is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flatwoods
- Fall River
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Fall River is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fall River
- Lawrenceburg
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Park Grove
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Park Grove is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Grove
- Henryville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Henryville is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henryville
- Leoma
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Appleton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Appleton is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Appleton
- Busby
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Busby is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Busby
- Liberty Grove
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Liberty Grove is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Grove
- Estimated population in 2014: 7,825 people
- Lewis County
- Voorhies
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Voorhies is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voorhies
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,476 people
- Lincoln County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Boonshill
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Boonshill is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonshill
- Petersburg
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Dellrose
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hughey
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
- Hughey is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughey
- Pearl City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Pearl City is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl City
- Coldwater
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Coldwater is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coldwater
- Harms
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Harms is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harms
- Belleville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Belleville is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belleville
- Cash Point
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Cash Point is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cash Point
- Molino
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Molino is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Molino
- Camargo
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Camargo is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Camargo
- Elk Mill Village
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
- Elk Mill Village is located in Lincoln County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elk Mill Village
- Marshall County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Globe
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Globe is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
- Cornersville
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- New Town
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- New Town is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Town
- Cochran
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Cochran is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochran
- Yell
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Yell is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yell
- Lewisburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- South Berlin
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- South Berlin is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Berlin
- Berlin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Berlin is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berlin
- Orrs
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Orrs is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orrs
- Estimated population in 2014: 123 people
- Belfast
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Belfast is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belfast
- Oak Hill
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Oak Hill is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
- Delina
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Delina is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delina
- Maury County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Culleoka
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Southport
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Southport is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southport
- Estimated population in 2014: 3,110 people
- Broadview
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Broadview is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadview
- Screamer
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Screamer is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Screamer
- Scribner
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Scribner is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scribner
- Enterprise
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Enterprise is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enterprise
- Scotts Mill
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Scotts Mill is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotts Mill
- Estimated population in 2014: 983 people
- Philadelphia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Philadelphia is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Philadelphia
- Estimated population in 2014: 683 people
- Frierson Town
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Frierson Town is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frierson Town
- Estimated population in 2014: 923 people
- Jonesboro ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Jonesboro is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jonesboro
- Estimated population in 2014: 5,238 people
- Mount Pleasant
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Ashwood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Ashwood is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashwood
- Williamson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Spring Hill
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Duplex
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Duplex is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duplex
- Wilkes ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Wilkes is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkes
- Thompson's Station
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Thompson's Station is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thompson's Station
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,973 people
- Former name for Thompson's Station:
- Littlebury
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thompson's Station <1>
- Burwood
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Burwood is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burwood
- Lauderdale County (AL)
- Bethel
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Bethel is located in Lauderdale County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bethel
- Limestone County (AL)
- The following are listed by their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Clifton ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Clifton is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clifton
- Lester
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Lester is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lester
- Population from the 2020 Census: 134 people
- Pettusville
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Pettusville is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettusville
- Estaville ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Estaville is located in Limestone County (AL)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estaville
- Ardmore
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Waco, see our County-by-County Page for Waco.
Cemeteries Near Waco ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Waco.
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 Waco - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Waco covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Lynnwood Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Waco Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
- Evans Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Fry Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Briggs Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- Grigg Family Farm
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Allen Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Dickerson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Hart Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Daught Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dodson Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Brown Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
- Continue List (1464 more) ...
- Joines Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Cook Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Carpenter Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
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 Waco in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Waco.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Waco, with the one closest to Waco listed first.
- Lynnville
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Bufords
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
- Bufords is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bufords
- Bivens
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Bivens is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bivens
- Stiversville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Stiversville is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stiversville
- Yokley
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Yokley is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yokley
- Campbellsville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Campbellsville is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbellsville
- Odd Fellows Hall
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Odd Fellows Hall is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Odd Fellows Hall
- Southport
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Southport is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southport
- Estimated population in 2014: 3,110 people
- Mooresville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mooresville is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooresville
- Culleoka
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Broadview
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
- Broadview is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broadview
- Pleasant Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Pleasant Grove is located in Maury County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Grove
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Wales
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Wales is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wales
- Estimated population in 2014: 2,031 people
- Brick Church
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Brick Church is located in Giles County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brick Church
- Globe
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Globe is located in Marshall County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Globe
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Waco. See our List of 1890's Communities around Waco.
Newspapers Published in Waco ...
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 37 newspapers that have been published in the area around Waco.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Waco, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Waco.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to 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 Waco:
- Websites specific to Tennessee
- Pages specific to Giles County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bedford County
- Hickman County
- Lawrence County
- Lewis County
- Lincoln County
- Marshall County
- Maury County
- Williamson County
- Lauderdale County
- Limestone County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Tennessee
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 from Point A (ie- Waco) 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 Waco, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |