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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Africa. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Africa to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Africa, please Contact Us.

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 Africa (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 Africa. 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/Parishes ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties/parishes.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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/parishes 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 south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties/parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Although our information shows that the community of Africa is historic, it would have been located within present day Shelby County.

To see how the shape of Texas' counties have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Shelby County: De Soto (LA), Sabine (LA), Nacogdoches, Panola, Rusk, Sabine & San Augustine.

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

  • Shelby County     (The home county of Africa)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Africa, with the one closest to Africa listed first.
    • Center
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Shelbyville
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelbyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelbyville
      • Shelbyville is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shelbyville <2>
    • Choice
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Short
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Short. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short
      • Short is located in Shelby County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Short
      • From Africa to Short
    • Campti
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Arcadia
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Tenaha
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Joaquin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joaquin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joaquin
      • Joaquin is located in Shelby County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 793 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Joaquin <2>
    • Haslam
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Huxley
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huxley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huxley
      • Huxley is located in Shelby County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 376 people
    • Timpson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timpson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timpson
      • Timpson is located in Shelby County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,130 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Timpson <2>
  • Nacogdoches County
  • Panola County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Africa, with the one closest to Africa listed first.
    • Woods
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Woods. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods
      • Woods is located in Panola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Woods
      • From Africa to Woods
    • Gary City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Murvaul
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Murvaul. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murvaul
      • Murvaul is located in Panola County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Murvaul
      • From Africa to Murvaul
    • Buncome
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Dotson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Carthage
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Clayton
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Rusk County
  • Sabine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Africa, with the one closest to Africa listed first.
    • Geneva
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Rosevine
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Milam
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milam have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milam
      • Milam is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Milam <2>
    • Bronson
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bronson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronson
      • Bronson is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bronson <2>
  • San Augustine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Africa, with the one closest to Africa listed first.
    • San Augustine
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Denning
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Maxey Town
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxey Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxey Town
      • Maxey Town is located in San Augustine County
    • Rebecca
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
  • De Soto Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Africa, with the one closest to Africa listed first.
    • Logansport
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Logansport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logansport
      • Logansport is located in De Soto Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,546 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Logansport <2>
    • Stanley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stanley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stanley
      • Stanley is located in De Soto Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 116 people
    • Longstreet
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Longstreet have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longstreet
      • Longstreet is located in De Soto Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Longstreet <2>
    • Screamerville ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Grand Cane
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Keachi
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keachi have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keachi
      • Keachi is located in De Soto Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 300 people
    • South Mansfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Mansfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Mansfield
      • South Mansfield is located in De Soto Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 352 people
  • Sabine Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Africa, with the one closest to Africa listed first.
    • Converse
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Converse have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Converse
      • Converse is located in Sabine Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 430 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Converse <2>
    • Noble
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Noble have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noble
      • Noble is located in Sabine Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 247 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Noble <2>
    • Zwolle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)

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

Cemeteries Near Africa ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Africa.

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

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

  • Prairie View Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Prairie View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Prairie View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mull Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mull Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mull Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Biggers Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Biggers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Biggers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oaklawn Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oaklawn Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oaklawn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Buckner Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Buckner Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Buckner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sinclair Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sinclair Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sinclair Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Creech Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Creech Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Creech Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Center Ridge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Center Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Center Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Henrietta Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Henrietta Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Henrietta Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cannon Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Blunt Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Blunt Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Blunt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smith Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (227 more) ...
    • Neuvine Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Neuvine Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Neuvine Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Neuville Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Neuville Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Neuville Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • McWilliams Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McWilliams Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McWilliams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> 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.

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

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

  • Center
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Shelbyville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelbyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelbyville
    • Shelbyville is located in Shelby County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shelbyville <2>
  • Short
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Short. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short
    • Short is located in Shelby County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Short
    • From Africa to Short
  • Huber
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huber have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huber
    • Huber is located in Shelby County
  • Ironosa
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ironosa have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ironosa
    • Ironosa is located in San Augustine County
  • Patroon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Patroon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Patroon
    • Patroon is located in Shelby County
  • Tenaha
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Joaquin
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joaquin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joaquin
    • Joaquin is located in Shelby County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 793 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Joaquin <2>
  • San Augustine
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Logansport
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Logansport have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Logansport
    • Logansport is located in De Soto Parish (LA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,546 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Logansport <2>
  • Woods
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Woods. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woods
    • Woods is located in Panola County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Woods
    • From Africa to Woods
  • Timpson
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timpson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timpson
    • Timpson is located in Shelby County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,130 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Timpson <2>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in Africa ...

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 Africa.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Africa, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Africa.

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 Africa:

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Africa, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Africa) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Africa. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.7680, Longitude: -94.1430    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025