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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 Bancroft (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 Bancroft. 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.

Bancroft is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Calcasieu (LA), Cameron (LA), Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson & Newton.

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

  • Orange County     (The home county of Bancroft)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Pinehurst
      (Less than 2 miles to the east)
      • Pinehurst is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,959 people
    • Orange
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • West Orange
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Orangefield
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bridge City
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lemonville ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Lemonville is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemonville
    • Mauriceville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Terry
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Terry is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
    • Texla
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Texla is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texla
    • Vidor
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Vidor is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vidor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,310 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vidor <1>
    • Pine Forest
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Pine Forest is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Forest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
    • Pine Grove
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Pine Grove is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Loeb
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Loeb is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loeb
    • Rose Hill Acres
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Rose Hill Acres is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill Acres
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 435 people
    • Lumberton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Silsbee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Jasper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Bunker Hill
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Bunker Hill is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
    • Evadale
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Buna
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Jefferson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Groves
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Groves is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Groves
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,268 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Groves <1>
    • Port Neches
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Central Gardens
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Central Gardens is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Gardens
    • Nederland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Port Arthur
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Higgins
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
      • Higgins is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higgins
    • Port Acres
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Beaumont
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Amelia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Amelia is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
    • Voth
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Sabine Pass
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • La Belle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • La Belle is located in Jefferson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Belle
  • Newton County
  • Beauregard Parish (LA)
    • Helme
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Helme is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helme
  • Calcasieu Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Bancroft, with the one closest to Bancroft listed first.
    • Vinton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
    • Starks
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Edgerly
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
    • Carlyss
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Carlyss is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlyss
    • Sulphur
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Sulphur is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 20,120 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sulphur <1>
  • Cameron Parish (LA)

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

Cemeteries Near Bancroft ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Bancroft.

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

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

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

  • Jett Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Dorman Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Winfree Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Hillcrest Memorial Gardens
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Forest Lawn Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hebrew Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Granger Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Evergreen Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Hollywood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Parish Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Bland Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (67 more) ...
    • Wilkinson Cemetery
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Williams Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Linscomb Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)

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

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

  • Tulane
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Tulane is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulane
  • Orange
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Echo
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Echo is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
  • Terry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Terry is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
  • Vinton
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
  • Edgerly
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
  • Beaumont
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Rosedale
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Rosedale is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
  • Amelia
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Amelia is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
  • Johnsons Bayou
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Johnsons Bayou is located in Cameron Parish (LA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Johnsons Bayou
  • La Belle
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • La Belle is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Belle
  • Sabine Pass
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
  • Hackberry
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
  • Pine Island
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Pine Island is located in Jefferson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Island

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

Newspapers Published in Bancroft ...

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 Bancroft.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Bancroft, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Bancroft.

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 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 Bancroft:

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 Bancroft, 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' (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- Bancroft) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.