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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 Camp Swift (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 Camp Swift. 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 Camp Swift ...

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 have occurred.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Camp Swift: Cp. Swift

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 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.

Camp Swift is located in Bastrop 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 Bastrop County: Caldwell, Fayette, Gonzales, Lee & Travis.

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

  • Bastrop County     (The home county of Camp Swift)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Camp Swift, with the one closest to Camp Swift listed first.
    • Phelan
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Bastrop
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bastrop have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bastrop
      • Bastrop is located in Bastrop County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,743 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bastrop <2>
    • McDade
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McDade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDade
      • McDade is located in Bastrop County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McDade <2>
    • Paige
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paige have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paige
      • Paige is located in Bastrop County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paige <2>
    • Elgin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wyldwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyldwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyldwood
      • Wyldwood is located in Bastrop County
    • Upton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
      • Cedar Creek is located in Bastrop County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Creek <2>
    • Smithville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smithville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithville
      • Smithville is located in Bastrop County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,664 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Smithville <2>
    • Togo
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Rosanky
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Red Rock
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Caldwell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Camp Swift, with the one closest to Camp Swift listed first.
    • Saint Johns Colony
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Saint Johns Colony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Johns Colony
      • Saint Johns Colony is located in Caldwell County
    • Pettytown
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Pettytown. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pettytown
      • Pettytown is located in Caldwell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Pettytown
      • From Camp Swift to Pettytown
    • Elm Grove
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elm Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Grove
      • Elm Grove is located in Caldwell County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Elm Grove
      • From Camp Swift to Elm Grove
    • Lytton Springs
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Taylorsville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Dale
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
      • Dale is located in Caldwell County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dale <2>
    • Delhi
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Mendoza
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • McMahan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McMahan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McMahan
      • McMahan is located in Caldwell County
    • Niederwald
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Lockhart
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Camp Swift, with the one closest to Camp Swift listed first.
    • Kirtley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Stellar
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stellar. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stellar
      • Stellar is located in Fayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Stellar
      • From Camp Swift to Stellar
    • West Point
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Warda
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Cistern
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Plum
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Plum have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum
      • Plum is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plum <2>
    • Nechanitz
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Colony
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Colony. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colony
      • Colony is located in Fayette County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Colony
      • From Camp Swift to Colony
    • Muldoon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Ledbetter
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ledbetter have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ledbetter
      • Ledbetter is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ledbetter <2>
  • Lee County
  • Milam County
    • Thorndale
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thorndale have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorndale
      • Thorndale is located in Milam County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,302 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thorndale <2>
  • Travis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Camp Swift, with the one closest to Camp Swift listed first.
    • Littig
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Webberville
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Garfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Garfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
      • Garfield is located in Travis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Garfield
      • From Camp Swift to Garfield
    • Manda ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manda have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manda
      • Manda is located in Travis County
    • Manor
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Manor have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manor
      • Manor is located in Travis County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,767 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manor <2>
    • New Sweden
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Sweden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Sweden
      • New Sweden is located in Travis County
    • Elroy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Daffan
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Del Valle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Cele
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Pilot Knob
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Villa Siesta Retirement Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Villa Siesta Retirement Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Villa Siesta Retirement Village
      • Villa Siesta Retirement Village is located in Travis County
  • Williamson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Camp Swift, with the one closest to Camp Swift listed first.
    • Coupland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Beyersville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Taylor
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
    • Thrall
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thrall have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thrall
      • Thrall is located in Williamson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,014 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Thrall <2>
    • Hutto
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hutto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hutto
      • Hutto is located in Williamson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 29,987 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hutto <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Camp Swift ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Camp Swift.

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 Camp Swift covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

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

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.<6>

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

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

  • Sayersville
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sayersville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sayersville
    • Sayersville is located in Bastrop County
  • Bastrop
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bastrop have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bastrop
    • Bastrop is located in Bastrop County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,743 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bastrop <2>
  • McDade
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McDade have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McDade
    • McDade is located in Bastrop County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McDade <2>
  • Hills Prairie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hills Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hills Prairie
    • Hills Prairie is located in Bastrop County
  • Alum Creek
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alum Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alum Creek
    • Alum Creek is located in Bastrop County
  • Paige
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paige have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paige
    • Paige is located in Bastrop County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paige <2>
  • Elgin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Upton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Littig
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Webberville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Cedar Creek
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Creek
    • Cedar Creek is located in Bastrop County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Creek <2>
  • Smithville
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Smithville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smithville
    • Smithville is located in Bastrop County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,664 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Smithville <2>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Garfield
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Garfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garfield
      • Garfield is located in Travis County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Garfield
      • From Camp Swift to Garfield
    • Fedor
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fedor. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fedor
      • Fedor is located in Lee County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fedor
      • From Camp Swift to Fedor
    • Dunlap
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunlap have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunlap
      • Dunlap is located in Travis County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Camp Swift ...

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 303 newspapers that have been published in the area around Camp Swift.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Camp Swift. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Camp Swift and those printed in the larger area surrounding Camp Swift.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Camp Swift.

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 Camp Swift:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Camp Swift) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Camp Swift. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.1917, Longitude: -97.2932    
<6>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 Camp Swift, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025