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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 Brooks 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 Brooks 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 Brooks 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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.

  • A typical abbreviation for Brooks Crossing: Brooks Xing.
  • While the name of this community is Brooks Crossing, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Brooks Crossing may originally have been Brook's Crossing.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Brooks Crossing might be written as Brook Crossing.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Brooks Crossing. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Brooks Crossing.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Brooks Crossing is located in Lampasas 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 Lampasas County: Bell, Burnet, Coryell, Hamilton, Mills & San Saba.

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

  • Lampasas County     (The home county of Brooks Crossing)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Crossing, with the one closest to Brooks Crossing listed first.
    • Kempner
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Sparks Crossing ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Sparks Crossing is located in Lampasas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks Crossing
    • Lampasas
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Izoro
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Adamsville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Adamsville is located in Lampasas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
    • Nix
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Nix is located in Lampasas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
    • Lometa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Senterfitt ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Senterfitt is located in Lampasas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Senterfitt
  • Bell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Crossing, with the one closest to Brooks Crossing listed first.
    • Copperas Cove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Maxdale ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Maxdale is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxdale
    • Fort Hood
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Chaffee Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Chaffee Village is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chaffee Village
    • McNair Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • McNair Village is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McNair Village
    • Killeen
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Walker Village
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Walker Village is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walker Village
    • Ding Dong
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Ding Dong is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ding Dong
    • Harker Heights
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Brookhaven
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Brookhaven is located in Bell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookhaven
    • Nolanville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Burnet County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Crossing, with the one closest to Brooks Crossing listed first.
    • Briggs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Naruna
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Naruna is located in Burnet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naruna
    • Bertram
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Burnet
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Silver Creek Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Silver Creek Village is located in Burnet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver Creek Village
    • Oatmeal
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Coryell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Crossing, with the one closest to Brooks Crossing listed first.
    • Comanche Village III
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Comanche Village III is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Village III
    • Montague Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Montague Village is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montague Village
    • Comanche Village I
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Comanche Village I is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Village I
    • Comanche Village II
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Comanche Village II is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Village II
    • Saint Elijah Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Saint Elijah Village is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elijah Village
    • Bee House
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Bee House is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee House
    • Pearl
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Pearl is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
    • King
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • King is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
    • Mason Crossing ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Mason Crossing is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason Crossing
    • Evant
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Purmela
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Flat
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Fort Gates
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Fort Gates is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Gates
  • Hamilton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Crossing, with the one closest to Brooks Crossing listed first.
    • Slab Crossing ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Slab Crossing is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slab Crossing
    • Ohio ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Ohio is located in Hamilton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ohio
  • Llano County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Crossing, with the one closest to Brooks Crossing listed first.
    • Buchanan Lake Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Tow
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Mills County
  • San Saba County
  • Williamson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Brooks Crossing, with the one closest to Brooks Crossing listed first.
    • Florence
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Andice
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Brooks Crossing ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Brooks 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 Brooks Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Rock Church Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
  • Pickett Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Kempner Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Garner Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Groves Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Gotcher Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Oak Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Hill Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Oak Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Lampasas.
    • The Oak Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • City Cemetery
    • Lapasas City Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #5662 <3>
  • Cook Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Bailey Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Ethridge Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (91 more) ...
    • Browning Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Copperas Cove Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Toby 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.<4>

While we didn't find Brooks Crossing in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Brooks Crossing.

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

  • Kempner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Lampasas
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Oakalla
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Oakalla is located in Burnet County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakalla
  • Sunnylane
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Sunnylane is located in Burnet County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sunnylane
  • Adamsville
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Adamsville is located in Lampasas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adamsville
  • Pidcoke
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Pidcoke is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pidcoke
  • Maxdale ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Maxdale is located in Bell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxdale
  • Naruna
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Naruna is located in Burnet County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naruna
  • Killeen
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Nix
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Nix is located in Lampasas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
  • Bee House
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Bee House is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bee House
  • King
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • King is located in Coryell County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for King
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Pearl
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Pearl is located in Coryell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pearl
    • Mahomet
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Mahomet is located in Burnet County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mahomet
    • Lometa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Brooks 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 53 newspapers that have been published in the area around Brooks Crossing.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Brooks Crossing, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Brooks Crossing.

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 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 Brooks Crossing:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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 Brooks Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Brooks Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.