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 Blanket Springs (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 Blanket Springs. 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 Blanket Springs ...
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 Blanket Springs: Blanket Spgs. (or less commonly used: Blanket Spngs. or Blanket Sprngs.)
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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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 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, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Blanket Springs 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 Blanket Springs. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Blanket Springs:
- Mills County (The home county of Blanket Springs)
- The following are listed by their distance from Blanket Springs, with the one closest to Blanket Springs listed first.
- Mullin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Ridge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Ridge is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
- Ebony ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Ebony is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebony
- Williams Ranch ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Williams Ranch is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ranch
- Buffalo
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Buffalo is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
- Bozar
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Bozar is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bozar
- Regency ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Regency is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency
- Goldthwaite
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Priddy
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Center City
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Center City is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center City
- Star
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
- Brown County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blanket Springs, with the one closest to Blanket Springs listed first.
- Zephyr
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Ricker ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ricker is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
- Indian Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Indian Creek is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
- Brownwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Early
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Blanket
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Keys Crossing
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Keys Crossing is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Crossing
- Brookesmith
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Lake Brownwood
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Lake Brownwood is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Brownwood
- Bangs
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- May
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Fry ‑ Historic
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fry is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
- Coleman County
- Trickham
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Trickham is located in Coleman County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
- Former name for Trickham:
- Trick'em
- Comanche County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blanket Springs, with the one closest to Blanket Springs listed first.
- Newburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Newburg is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Comanche
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Sidney
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Energy
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Gustine
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Hamilton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blanket Springs, with the one closest to Blanket Springs listed first.
- McGirk ‑ Historic
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
- McGirk is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
- Pottsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- McCulloch County
- Milburn
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Milburn is located in McCulloch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
- San Saba County
- The following are listed by their distance from Blanket Springs, with the one closest to Blanket Springs listed first.
- Locker ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Locker is located in San Saba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locker
- Holt ‑ Historic
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
- Holt is located in San Saba County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
- Richland Springs
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- San Saba
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Blanket Springs, see our County-by-County Page for Blanket Springs.
Cemeteries Near Blanket Springs ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Blanket Springs.
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 Blanket Springs - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Blanket Springs covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Blanket Springs, with the one closest to Blanket Springs listed first.
- Blanket Springs Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Fisher Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Zephyr Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- Elkins Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Oakview Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Hollis Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Duren Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Williams Ranch Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Ebony Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebony Cemetery
- The Ebony Cemetery has also been known as:
- Buffalo Ebony Cemetery
- Democrat Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Dudley Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Beairds Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
- Continue List (100 more) ...
- Catclaw Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
- Traylor Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Rock Spring Cemetery
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
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>
While we didn't find Blanket Springs in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Blanket Springs.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Blanket Springs, with the one closest to Blanket Springs listed first.
- Zephyr
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Mullin
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Williams Ranch ‑ Historic
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
- Williams Ranch is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ranch
- Ricker ‑ Historic
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Ricker is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
- Indian Creek
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
- Indian Creek is located in Brown County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
- Regency ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Regency is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency
- Brownwood
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Big Valley
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Big Valley is located in Mills County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Valley
- Goldthwaite
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Blanket
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Priddy
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Newburg
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
- Newburg is located in Comanche County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Milburn
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Milburn is located in McCulloch County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
- Indian Gap
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Indian Gap is located in Hamilton County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Gap
- Bangs
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Blanket Springs. See our List of 1890's Communities around Blanket Springs.
Newspapers Published in Blanket Springs ...
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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Blanket Springs.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Blanket Springs, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Blanket Springs.
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 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 Blanket Springs:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Mills County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Brown County
- Coleman County
- Comanche County
- Hamilton 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 Blanket Springs, 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- Blanket Springs) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |