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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 Big Sandy (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 Big Sandy. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most 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.

Big Sandy is located in Upshur 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 Upshur County: Camp, Gregg, Marion, Morris, Smith & Wood.

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

  • Upshur County     (The home county of Big Sandy)
  • Camp County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Sandy, with the one closest to Big Sandy listed first.
    • Pine
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Leesburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Pittsburg
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Rocky Mound
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rocky Mound have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rocky Mound
      • Rocky Mound is located in Camp County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 78 people
    • Center Point ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
      • Center Point is located in Camp County
  • Cherokee County
  • Franklin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Sandy, with the one closest to Big Sandy listed first.
    • Scroggins
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Winnsboro
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winnsboro have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winnsboro
      • Winnsboro is located in Franklin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,330 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winnsboro <3>
  • Gregg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Sandy, with the one closest to Big Sandy listed first.
    • Gladewater
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Warren City
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Warren City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren City
      • Warren City is located in Gregg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
    • Clarksville City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarksville City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville City
      • Clarksville City is located in Gregg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 945 people
    • Liberty City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Liberty City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty City
      • Liberty City is located in Gregg County
    • East Mountain
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Mountain
      • East Mountain is located in Gregg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 878 people
    • White Oak
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Oak
      • White Oak is located in Gregg County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,283 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for White Oak <3>
    • Seven Pines
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Seven Pines have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Pines
      • Seven Pines is located in Gregg County
    • Teneryville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Greggton
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Kilgore
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Judson
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Judson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Judson
      • Judson is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Judson <3>
    • Danville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Rolling Meadows
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rolling Meadows have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Meadows
      • Rolling Meadows is located in Gregg County
  • Harrison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Sandy, with the one closest to Big Sandy listed first.
    • Morton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morton
      • Morton is located in Harrison County
    • Lansing
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lansing. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lansing
      • Lansing is located in Harrison County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Lansing
      • From Big Sandy to Lansing
    • Noonday
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Noonday have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Noonday
      • Noonday is located in Harrison County
  • Henderson County
  • Rusk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Sandy, with the one closest to Big Sandy listed first.
    • Laird Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Laird Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laird Hill
      • Laird Hill is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Laird Hill <3>
    • Overton
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Sexton City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sexton City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sexton City
      • Sexton City is located in Rusk County
    • New London
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New London have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New London
      • New London is located in Rusk County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,013 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New London <3>
    • Pirtle
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Jacobs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Friars
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Monroe
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Monroe. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Monroe
      • Monroe is located in Rusk County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Monroe
      • From Big Sandy to Monroe
    • Selman City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Selman City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Selman City
      • Selman City is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Selman City <3>
    • Turnertown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Joinerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Smith County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Big Sandy, with the one closest to Big Sandy listed first.
    • Starrville
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Starrville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starrville
      • Starrville is located in Smith County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Starrville
      • From Big Sandy to Starrville
    • Winona
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona
      • Winona is located in Smith County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 617 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winona <3>
    • Red Springs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Browning
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jamestown ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jamestown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
      • Jamestown is located in Smith County
      • Jamestown has also been known as:
      • Jimtown
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Jamestown
      • From Big Sandy to Jamestown
    • Lindale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lindale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindale
      • Lindale is located in Smith County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,730 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lindale <3>
    • Swan
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • New Chapel Hill
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Chapel Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Chapel Hill
      • New Chapel Hill is located in Smith County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 667 people
    • Tyler
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Hideaway
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Arp
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Carroll
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Carroll. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carroll
      • Carroll is located in Smith County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Carroll
      • From Big Sandy to Carroll
    • Garden Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Wood County

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

Cemeteries Near Big Sandy ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Sandy.

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

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

  • Chilton Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chilton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chilton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hoover Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hoover Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hoover Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Varnon Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Varnon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Varnon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jarvis College Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jarvis College Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jarvis College Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Waters Bluff Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Barber Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • New Hope Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Hope Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Hope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Kay Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kay Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kay Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Haney Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Haney Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Haney Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hawkins City Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Gladewater Memorial Park
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Mings Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mings Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mings Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (224 more) ...
    • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Pinkston Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pinkston Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pinkston Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Ingram Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ingram Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ingram Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • The Ingram Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Dale / Hall / Ingram Cemetery

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 Big Sandy had a population of 323 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Big Sandy had a population of 1,412 people.

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

  • Hawkins
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Shady Grove
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shady Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Grove
    • Shady Grove is located in Upshur County
  • Wilkins
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wilkins. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkins
    • Wilkins is located in Upshur County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Wilkins
    • From Big Sandy to Wilkins
  • Winona
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winona
    • Winona is located in Smith County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 617 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winona <3>
  • Starrville
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Starrville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starrville
    • Starrville is located in Smith County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Starrville
    • From Big Sandy to Starrville
  • Pritchett
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pritchett. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pritchett
    • Pritchett is located in Upshur County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Pritchett
    • From Big Sandy to Pritchett
  • Gladewater
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • West Mountain
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West Mountain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Mountain
    • West Mountain is located in Upshur County
  • Browning
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Gilmer
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Glenwood
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Grice
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Pine Mills
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Bettie
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lindale
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lindale have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lindale
      • Lindale is located in Smith County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,730 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lindale <3>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Big Sandy ...

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 78 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Sandy.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Big Sandy. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Big Sandy and those printed in the larger area surrounding Big Sandy.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<6> of Big Sandy.

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 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 Big Sandy:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Big Sandy. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Upshur County: www.countyofupshur.com/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 Big Sandy, 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' (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- Big Sandy) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Big Sandy. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.5835, Longitude: -95.1087    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025