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 Valley (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 Valley. 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 Big Valley ...
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 Big Valley: Big Vly. (or less commonly used: Big Vally. or Big Vlly.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Big Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Big Valley.
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 southwest 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 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.
Big Valley is located in Mills 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 Mills County: Brown, Comanche, Hamilton, Lampasas & San Saba.
Below are the counties that are near Big Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Big Valley:
- Mills County (The home county of Big Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Valley, with the one closest to Big Valley listed first.
- Goldthwaite
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Williams Ranch ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Williams Ranch is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ranch
- Bozar
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Bozar is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bozar
- Ridge
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Ridge is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
- Mullin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Regency ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Regency is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency
- Center City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Center City is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center City
- Buffalo
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Buffalo is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Ebony ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ebony is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebony
- Star
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Priddy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Brown County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Valley, with the one closest to Big Valley listed first.
- Indian Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Indian Creek is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
- Zephyr
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Keys Crossing
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Keys Crossing is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Crossing
- Ricker ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Ricker is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
- Brownwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Early
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Brookesmith
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Comanche County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Valley, with the one closest to Big Valley listed first.
- Newburg
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Newburg is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Energy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Coryell County
- Evant
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hamilton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Valley, with the one closest to Big Valley listed first.
- McGirk ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- McGirk is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
- Pottsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Lampasas County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Valley, with the one closest to Big Valley listed first.
- Senterfitt ‑ Historic
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Senterfitt is located in Lampasas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Senterfitt
- Lometa
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Nix
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Nix is located in Lampasas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
- Adamsville
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Adamsville is located in Lampasas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
- McCulloch County
- Milburn
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Milburn is located in McCulloch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
- San Saba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Big Valley, with the one closest to Big Valley listed first.
- San Saba
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Locker ‑ Historic
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
- Locker is located in San Saba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locker
- Richland Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Bend
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Holt ‑ Historic
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Holt is located in San Saba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
- Cherokee
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Big Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Big Valley.
Cemeteries Near Big Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Big Valley.
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 Big Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Big Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Big Valley, with the one closest to Big Valley listed first.
- Big Valley Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Mohler Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Estep Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Traylor Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Lower Valley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- McMillin Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Rock Spring Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Nabors Creek Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Goldthwaite Memorial Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Catclaw Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
- Shaw Bend Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Ratler Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Continue List (91 more) ...
- Spring Creek Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Williams Ranch Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Neal Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
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.<3>
The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Big Valley had a post office and no railroad service.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Big Valley, with the one closest to Big Valley listed first.
- Goldthwaite
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Williams Ranch ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Williams Ranch is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ranch
- Mullin
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Regency ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Regency is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency
- San Saba
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Richland Springs
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Lometa
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- McGirk ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- McGirk is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
- Bend
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Zephyr
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Priddy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Indian Creek
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Indian Creek is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
- Continue List (10 more) ...
- Indian Gap
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Indian Gap is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Gap
- Nix
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
- Nix is located in Lampasas County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
- Ricker ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Ricker is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Big Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Big Valley.
Newspapers Published in Big Valley ...
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 15 newspapers that have been published in the area around Big Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Big Valley, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Big Valley.
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 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 Big Valley:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Mills County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Brown County
- Comanche County
- Coryell County
- Hamilton County
- Lampasas County
- McCulloch County
- San Saba County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
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> | 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. |
| <3> | 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 Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | 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- Big Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |