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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 Ames (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 Ames. 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.

Ames is located in Coryell County.

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

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Coryell County: Bell, Bosque, Hamilton, Lampasas & McLennan.

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

  • Coryell County     (The home county of Ames)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ames, with the one closest to Ames listed first.
    • Gatesville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Levita
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Levita is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levita
    • Turnersville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Turnersville is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnersville
    • Jonesboro
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • South Mountain
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • South Mountain is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Mountain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
    • Coryell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Coryell is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coryell
    • Fort Gates
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Fort Gates is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Gates
    • Ireland
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Ireland is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ireland
    • Purmela
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • King
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • King is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
    • Mound
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Leon Junction
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Bell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ames, with the one closest to Ames listed first.
    • Brookhaven
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Brookhaven is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookhaven
    • Fort Hood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • McNair Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • McNair Village is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNair Village
    • Walker Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Walker Village is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker Village
    • Chaffee Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Chaffee Village is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaffee Village
    • Copperas Cove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Moffat
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Moffat is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffat
    • Killeen
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Bosque County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ames, with the one closest to Ames listed first.
    • Cranfills Gap
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Norse
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Norse is located in Bosque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norse
    • Valley Mills
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Clifton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Cayote
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Cayote is located in Bosque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayote
    • Womack
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Womack is located in Bosque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Womack
    • Meridian
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Greenock
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Greenock is located in Bosque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenock
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ames, with the one closest to Ames listed first.
    • Whiteway
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Whiteway is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteway
      • Whiteway has also been known as:
      • White Way
    • Slab Crossing ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Slab Crossing is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Crossing
    • Lanham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Lanham is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanham
    • Ohio ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Ohio is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ohio
    • Agee ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Agee is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agee
    • Hamilton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Spurlin ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Spurlin is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spurlin
  • Lampasas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ames, with the one closest to Ames listed first.
    • Izoro
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Adamsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Adamsville is located in Lampasas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
  • McLennan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ames, with the one closest to Ames listed first.
    • Crawford
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Moody
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Moody is located in McLennan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moody
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,433 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Moody <1>
    • China Spring
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Speegleville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Speegleville is located in McLennan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speegleville

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

Cemeteries Near Ames ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ames.

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 Ames - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Weaver Chapel Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
  • Coffee Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Young Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Oak Grove Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Odd Fellows Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Restland Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Turnersville Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Wood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Sycamore Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Hemelline Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Coryell Valley Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Crawford Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crawford Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Crawford Cemetery is located 8 miles [12.9 km]<3> to the northeast of Gatesville.
  • Continue List   (114 more) ...
    • Miller Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Brown Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)

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

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

  • Gatesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Levita
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Levita is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levita
  • Turnersville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Turnersville is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnersville
  • Jonesboro
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Fort Gates
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort Gates is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Gates
  • Coryell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Coryell is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coryell
  • Purmela
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • King
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • King is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
  • Osage
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Osage is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osage
  • Mosheim
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mosheim is located in Bosque County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mosheim
  • Pecan Grove ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Pecan Grove is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Grove
  • Mound
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Leon Junction
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Pearl
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Pearl is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
    • Pidcoke
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Pidcoke is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pidcoke

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

Newspapers Published in Ames ...

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 54 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ames.

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

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 professional and volunteer 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 Ames:

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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Ames) 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 Ames, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.