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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 Arizona (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 Arizona. 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 hospitals and 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.

Arizona is located in Walker 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 Walker County: Grimes, Houston, Madison, Montgomery, San Jacinto & Trinity.

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

  • Walker County     (The home county of Arizona)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arizona, with the one closest to Arizona listed first.
    • Riverside
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Dodge
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Huntsville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Barado
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Barado is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barado
    • Kittrell
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Kittrell is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kittrell
    • Elmina
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Elmina is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmina
    • New Waverly
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Goshen is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Wesley Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Wesley Grove is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Grove
  • Grimes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arizona, with the one closest to Arizona listed first.
    • Shiro
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Richards
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bedias
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Houston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arizona, with the one closest to Arizona listed first.
    • Antioch ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Antioch is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
    • Lovelady
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Holly
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Holly is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly
    • Austonio
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Austonio is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austonio
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arizona, with the one closest to Arizona listed first.
    • Midway
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Madisonville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arizona, with the one closest to Arizona listed first.
    • Danville ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Danville is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
    • Willis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Willis is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,122 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willis <1>
    • Panorama Village
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Panorama Village is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,446 people
    • Dacus
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Dacus is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacus
    • Montgomery
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arizona, with the one closest to Arizona listed first.
    • Onalaska
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Bold Springs
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Bold Springs is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bold Springs
    • West Livingston
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • West Livingston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Livingston
    • Swartout ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Swartout is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swartout
  • San Jacinto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arizona, with the one closest to Arizona listed first.
    • Oakhurst
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Point Blank
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Laurel Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Laurel Hill is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hill
    • Evergreen
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Evergreen is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Coldspring
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Magnolia
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Magnolia is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Arizona, with the one closest to Arizona listed first.
    • Mill Town
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Mill Town is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Town
    • Trinity
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Carlisle
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Carlisle is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
    • Chita
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Chita is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chita
    • Glendale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Glendale is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
    • Friday
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Friday is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friday
    • Groveton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Sumpter ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Sumpter is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumpter
    • Pennington
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Woodlake
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodlake is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlake

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

Cemeteries Near Arizona ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Arizona.

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

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

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

  • Grant Colony Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Dodge Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Cline Prairie Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • North Side Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Sam Houston Grave
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Prison Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • South Side Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Chapel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Chapel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Gospel Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Gospel Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (127 more) ...
    • Cleveland Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Harper Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Hume Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 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.<2>

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

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

  • Dodge
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Riverside
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Huntsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Phelps
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Phelps is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
  • Trinity
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Point Blank
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Bath
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bath is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
  • New Waverly
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
  • Maynard
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Maynard is located in San Jacinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maynard
  • Evergreen
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Evergreen is located in San Jacinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Saron
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Saron is located in Trinity County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saron
  • Antioch ‑ Historic
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Antioch is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Lovelady
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Midway
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Connor
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Connor is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connor

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

Newspapers Published in Arizona ...

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 51 newspapers that have been published in the area around Arizona.

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

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 websites either 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 Arizona:

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>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 Arizona, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Arizona) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.