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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 Ballard Crossing (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 Ballard Crossing. 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.

Name Variations for Ballard Crossing ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Ballard Crossing: Ballard Xing.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Ballard Crossing is located in Hamilton 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 Hamilton County: Bosque, Comanche, Coryell, Erath, Lampasas & Mills.

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

  • Hamilton County     (The home county of Ballard Crossing)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ballard Crossing, with the one closest to Ballard Crossing listed first.
    • Ohio ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Ohio is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ohio
    • Slab Crossing ‑ Historic
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • Slab Crossing is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Crossing
    • Whiteway
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Whiteway is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whiteway
      • Whiteway has also been known as:
      • White Way
    • Hamilton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • McGirk ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • McGirk is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
    • Lanham
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Lanham is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanham
    • Pottsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Agee ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Agee is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agee
    • Spurlin ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Spurlin is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spurlin
    • Carlton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Hico
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Hico is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hico
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,437 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hico <1>
  • Bell County
    • Copperas Cove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Bosque County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ballard Crossing, with the one closest to Ballard Crossing listed first.
    • Cranfills Gap
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Norse
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Norse is located in Bosque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norse
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ballard Crossing, with the one closest to Ballard Crossing listed first.
    • Energy
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Wilson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Wilson is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
    • Gustine
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Newburg
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Newburg is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
  • Coryell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ballard Crossing, with the one closest to Ballard Crossing listed first.
    • Evant
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Ireland
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Ireland is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ireland
    • Purmela
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Bee House
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Bee House is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee House
    • Pearl
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Pearl is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
    • Levita
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Levita is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levita
    • Jonesboro
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • King
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • King is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
    • Gatesville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Turnersville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Turnersville is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnersville
    • Fort Gates
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Fort Gates is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Gates
    • South Mountain
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • South Mountain is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Mountain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
    • Coryell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Coryell is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coryell
  • Lampasas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ballard Crossing, with the one closest to Ballard Crossing listed first.
    • Izoro
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Adamsville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Adamsville is located in Lampasas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
    • Lometa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Mills County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ballard Crossing, with the one closest to Ballard Crossing listed first.
    • Star
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Center City
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Center City is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center City
    • Priddy
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Goldthwaite
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Bozar
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Bozar is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bozar

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

Cemeteries Near Ballard Crossing ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ballard Crossing.

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 Ballard Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • New Hope Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Murphy Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Little Cowhouse Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Langford Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Willy Grubb Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Edwards Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Blue Ridge Baptist Church Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Blue Ridge Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • West Point Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Kingsbury Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (102 more) ...
    • Pilgrims Rest Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Perkins Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Evergreen Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)

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

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

  • Ohio ‑ Historic
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Ohio is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ohio
  • Evant
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Purmela
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Bee House
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Bee House is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee House
  • Pearl
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Pearl is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
  • Shive
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Shive is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shive
  • Hamilton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Levita
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Levita is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Levita
  • Jonesboro
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • McGirk ‑ Historic
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • McGirk is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
  • King
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • King is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
  • Lanham
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Lanham is located in Hamilton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lanham
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Pottsville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Adamsville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Adamsville is located in Lampasas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
    • Gentrys Mill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Gentrys Mill is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gentrys Mill

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

Newspapers Published in Ballard Crossing ...

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 34 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ballard Crossing.

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

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 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 Ballard Crossing:

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