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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 Austin (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 Austin. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 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 south 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.

Austin is primarily located in Travis County and is the County Seat. A portion of Austin extends into Hays County and Williamson 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 Travis County: Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Hays & Williamson.

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

  • Travis County     (The home county of Austin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Rollingwood
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rollingwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rollingwood
      • Rollingwood is located in Travis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,571 people
    • West Lake Hills
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Lake Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Lake Hills
      • West Lake Hills is located in Travis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,254 people
    • Sunset Valley
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sunset Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunset Valley
      • Sunset Valley is located in Travis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 662 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sunset Valley <2>
    • Del Valle
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lost Creek
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lost Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lost Creek
      • Lost Creek is located in Travis County
    • Daffan
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Pilot Knob
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Barton Creek
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Barton Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barton Creek
      • Barton Creek is located in Travis County
    • Villa Siesta Retirement Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Villa Siesta Retirement Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Siesta Retirement Village
      • Villa Siesta Retirement Village is located in Travis County
    • Tanglewood Forest
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tanglewood Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tanglewood Forest
      • Tanglewood Forest is located in Travis County
    • Onion Creek
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Onion Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Onion Creek
      • Onion Creek is located in Travis County
    • San Leanna
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Leanna have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Leanna
      • San Leanna is located in Travis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 507 people
    • Carl
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carl. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
      • Carl is located in Travis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carl
      • From Austin to Carl
  • Bastrop County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Mustang Ridge
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mustang Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mustang Ridge
      • Mustang Ridge is located in Bastrop County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,001 people
    • Wyldwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyldwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyldwood
      • Wyldwood is located in Bastrop County
    • Cedar Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
      • Cedar Creek is located in Bastrop County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Creek <2>
    • Elgin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Phelan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Bastrop
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bastrop have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bastrop
      • Bastrop is located in Bastrop County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,743 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bastrop <2>
    • Camp Swift
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Bateman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Red Rock
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • McDade
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McDade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDade
      • McDade is located in Bastrop County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McDade <2>
  • Burnet County
    • Spicewood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spicewood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spicewood
      • Spicewood is located in Burnet County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spicewood <2>
  • Caldwell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Niederwald
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Mendoza
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Lytton Springs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Uhland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Saint Johns Colony
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Johns Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johns Colony
      • Saint Johns Colony is located in Caldwell County
    • Dale
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
      • Dale is located in Caldwell County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dale <2>
    • Lockhart
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Maxwell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxwell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxwell
      • Maxwell is located in Caldwell County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maxwell <2>
    • Reedville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Martindale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Martindale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Martindale
      • Martindale is located in Caldwell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,212 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Martindale <2>
    • Taylorsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Elm Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elm Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Grove
      • Elm Grove is located in Caldwell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elm Grove
      • From Austin to Elm Grove
    • Pettytown
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pettytown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettytown
      • Pettytown is located in Caldwell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pettytown
      • From Austin to Pettytown
  • Hays County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Hays
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hays have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hays
      • Hays is located in Hays County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
    • Bear Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bear Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Creek
      • Bear Creek is located in Hays County
      • Estimated population in 2017: 445 people
    • Buda
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Flatrock Ford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Goforth
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Fitzhugh
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Mountain City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mountain City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mountain City
      • Mountain City is located in Hays County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 858 people
    • Kyle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Driftwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Dripping Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Mount Gainor
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Woodcreek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Henly
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Henly. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henly
      • Henly is located in Hays County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Henly
      • From Austin to Henly
  • Williamson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Austin, with the one closest to Austin listed first.
    • Jollyville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Jollyville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jollyville
      • Jollyville is located in Williamson County
    • Anderson Mill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anderson Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson Mill
      • Anderson Mill is located in Williamson County
    • Brushy Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brushy Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brushy Creek
      • Brushy Creek is located in Williamson County
    • Cedar Park
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Old Round Rock ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Round Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Round Rock
      • Old Round Rock is located in Williamson County
    • Round Rock
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Leander
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leander have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leander
      • Leander is located in Williamson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 70,519 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leander <2>
    • Hutto
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hutto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutto
      • Hutto is located in Williamson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,987 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hutto <2>
    • Coupland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Georgetown
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Taylor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Liberty Hill
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill
      • Liberty Hill is located in Williamson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,549 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Liberty Hill <2>
    • Beyersville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Austin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Austin.

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

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

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Austin had a population of 14,575 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Austin had a population of 995,484 people.

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

  • Del Valle
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Oak Hill
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill
    • Oak Hill is located in Travis County
  • Bluff Springs
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bluff Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluff Springs
    • Bluff Springs is located in Travis County
  • Daffan
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Manchaca
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Carl
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carl. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl
    • Carl is located in Travis County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Carl
    • From Austin to Carl
  • Creedmoor
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Creedmoor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Creedmoor
    • Creedmoor is located in Travis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Creedmoor <2>
  • Dunlap
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunlap have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
    • Dunlap is located in Travis County
  • Garfield
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Garfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
    • Garfield is located in Travis County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Garfield
    • From Austin to Garfield
  • Manor
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor
    • Manor is located in Travis County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,767 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manor <2>
  • McNeil
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McNeil have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNeil
    • McNeil is located in Travis County
  • Cedar Valley
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Valley
    • Cedar Valley is located in Travis County
  • 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 Austin. See our List of 1890's Communities around Austin.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Austin ...

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 322 newspapers that have been published in the area around Austin.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Austin. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Austin and those printed in the larger area surrounding Austin.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<6> of Austin.

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 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 Austin:

The official website for Austin: www.ci.austin.tx.us/

The official website for Travis County: www.co.travis.tx.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<5>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 Austin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Austin) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Austin. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.2672, Longitude: -97.7431    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025