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The Commemorative Quarter for Texas





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 Canyon (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 Canyon. 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 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.

Canyon is located in Randall County and is the County Seat.

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 Randall County: Armstrong, Carson, Castro, Deaf Smith, Oldham, Potter & Swisher.

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

  • Randall County     (The home county of Canyon)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canyon, with the one closest to Canyon listed first.
    • Timbercreek Canyon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timbercreek Canyon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timbercreek Canyon
      • Timbercreek Canyon is located in Randall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 479 people
    • Palisades
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palisades have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palisades
      • Palisades is located in Randall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
    • Lake Tanglewood
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Tanglewood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Tanglewood
      • Lake Tanglewood is located in Randall County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 898 people
    • Umbarger
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Armstrong County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canyon, with the one closest to Canyon listed first.
    • Washburn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Washburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washburn
      • Washburn is located in Armstrong County
    • Wayside
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wayside have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside
      • Wayside is located in Armstrong County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wayside <2>
  • Deaf Smith County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canyon, with the one closest to Canyon listed first.
    • Dawn
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawn
      • Dawn is located in Deaf Smith County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawn <2>
    • Hereford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Oldham County
    • Wildorado
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildorado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildorado
      • Wildorado is located in Oldham County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wildorado <2>
  • Potter County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Canyon, with the one closest to Canyon listed first.
    • Soncy
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Amarillo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Bushland
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bushland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bushland
      • Bushland is located in Potter County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bushland <2>
    • Bishop Hills
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bishop Hills have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bishop Hills
      • Bishop Hills is located in Potter County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 173 people
  • Swisher County
    • Happy
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Canyon ...

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 61 newspapers that have been published in the area around Canyon.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Canyon. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Canyon and those printed in the larger area surrounding Canyon.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3> of Canyon.

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 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 Canyon:

Cemeteries Near Canyon ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Canyon.

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

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

  • Dreamland Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Memory Gardens
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Memory Gardens have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memory Gardens
  • St. Paul Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Paul Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Paul Cemetery
  • St. Mary Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary Cemetery
  • Llano Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Happy Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Happy Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Happy Cemetery
  • Memorial Park Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Memorial Park
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memorial Park
  • Palo Duro Wildorado Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Arnot Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Arnot Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Arnot Cemetery
  • Townsend Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Townsend Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Townsend Cemetery
  • Wayside Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Washburn Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • St. Francis Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Francis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Francis Cemetery
    • Rest Lawn Memorial Park
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rest Lawn Memorial Park is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Hereford.
      • The Rest Lawn Memorial Park has also been known as:
      • Rest Lawn Cemetery
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rest Lawn Memorial Park
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #6324 <4>

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 in 1895, Canyon had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Canyon had a population of 16,387 people.

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

  • Dawn
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawn
    • Dawn is located in Deaf Smith County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawn <2>
  • Happy
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
  • Amarillo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Pullman
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pullman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pullman
    • Pullman is located in Potter County
  • Washburn
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Washburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Washburn
    • Washburn is located in Armstrong County

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

The official website for Canyon: www.canyon-tx.com/

The official website for Randall County: www.randallcounty.org/

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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Canyon) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Canyon. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.9799, Longitude: -101.9194    
<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 Canyon, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024