RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Smith County >> Chapel Hill >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Chapel Hill (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 Chapel Hill. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and 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.

Chapel Hill is located in Smith 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 Smith County: Cherokee, Gregg, Henderson, Upshur, Van Zandt & Wood.

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

  • Smith County     (The home county of Chapel Hill)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chapel Hill, with the one closest to Chapel Hill listed first.
    • New Chapel Hill
      (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
      • New Chapel Hill is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Chapel Hill
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 667 people
    • Tyler
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Tyler is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 108,222 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tyler <1>
    • Whitehouse
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Browning
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Browning is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browning
    • Omen
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Omen is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omen
    • Arp
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Arp is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arp
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,046 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Arp <1>
    • Jamestown ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Jamestown is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jamestown
      • Jamestown has also been known as:
      • Jimtown
    • Sinclair City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Sinclair City is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sinclair City
    • Gresham
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Gresham is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gresham
    • Starrville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Starrville is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starrville
    • Flint
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lee Spring
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Lee Spring is located in Smith County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lee Spring
  • Anderson County
    • Frankston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chapel Hill, with the one closest to Chapel Hill listed first.
    • Troup
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Troup is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troup
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,064 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troup <1>
    • Bullard
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Mixon
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Mixon is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mixon
    • Henrys Chapel
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Henrys Chapel is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrys Chapel
    • Gould
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Gould is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gould
    • Mount Selman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Mount Selman is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Selman
    • Blackjack
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Blackjack is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackjack
    • Larissa ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Larissa is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larissa
    • Griffin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Griffin is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griffin
    • Cherokee Landing
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Cherokee Landing is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cherokee Landing
    • Cuney
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • New Summerfield
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
  • Gregg County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chapel Hill, with the one closest to Chapel Hill listed first.
    • Liberty City
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Liberty City is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty City
    • Kilgore
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Gladewater
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Danville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Danville is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
    • Fredonia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Fredonia is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fredonia
    • Rolling Meadows
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Rolling Meadows is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rolling Meadows
    • Clarksville City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Clarksville City is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarksville City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 945 people
    • Warren City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Warren City is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Warren City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 305 people
    • White Oak
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Greggton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Greggton is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greggton
    • Elderville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Elderville is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elderville
    • East Mountain
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • East Mountain is located in Gregg County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Mountain
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 878 people
  • Henderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chapel Hill, with the one closest to Chapel Hill listed first.
    • Chandler
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Coffee City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Coffee City is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coffee City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 299 people
    • Berryville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Berryville is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Berryville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,066 people
    • Moore Station
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Moore Station is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moore Station
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
    • Brownsboro
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Leagueville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Leagueville is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leagueville
    • Poynor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Rusk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chapel Hill, with the one closest to Chapel Hill listed first.
    • Overton
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • New London
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Sexton City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Sexton City is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sexton City
    • Selman City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Laird Hill
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Turnertown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Turnertown is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnertown
    • Friars
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Friars is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friars
    • Jacobs
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jacobs is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacobs
    • Pirtle
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Pirtle is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pirtle
    • Joinerville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Price
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Big Springs
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Big Springs is located in Rusk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Springs
  • Upshur County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chapel Hill, with the one closest to Chapel Hill listed first.
    • Big Sandy
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Wilkins
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Wilkins is located in Upshur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkins
    • Center Point
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Center Point is located in Upshur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
    • Union Grove
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Union Grove is located in Upshur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 372 people
    • Pritchett
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Pritchett is located in Upshur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pritchett
    • Kelsey
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Kelsey is located in Upshur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kelsey
    • Rhonesboro
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Rhonesboro is located in Upshur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhonesboro
    • Glenwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Glenwood is located in Upshur County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenwood
  • Van Zandt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chapel Hill, with the one closest to Chapel Hill listed first.
    • Edom
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Edom is located in Van Zandt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edom
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 387 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Edom <1>
    • Van
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Van is located in Van Zandt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Van
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,778 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Van <1>
  • Wood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Chapel Hill, with the one closest to Chapel Hill listed first.
    • Hawkins
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Hainesville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Hainesville is located in Wood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hainesville
    • Mineola
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Pine Mills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Pine Mills is located in Wood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Mills

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

Cemeteries Near Chapel Hill ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Chapel Hill.

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 Chapel Hill - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Bascom Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Oliver's Chapel Cemetery (African-American)
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Meador Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Belcher Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Universe Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Bacon Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Lawrence Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence Cemetery
    • The Lawrence Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Lorance Cemetery
  • St. Viola Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Viola Cemetery
    • The St. Viola Cemetery has also been known as:
    • St. Violet's Cemetery
  • Liberty Hill Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty Hill Cemetery
    • The Liberty Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Liberty Hill Memorial Gardens
  • Green Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Pleasant Grove Cemetery (African-American)
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (264 more) ...
    • Holt Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Holt Cemetery is located 9 miles [14.5 km]<3> to the north of Arp.
      • The Holt Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Old Chapel Hill Cemetery
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4321 <2>
    • Antioch Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Whitehouse Cemetery
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)

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 Chapel Hill in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Chapel Hill.

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

  • Tyler
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Tyler is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyler
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 108,222 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tyler <1>
  • Omen
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Omen is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Omen
  • Browning
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Browning is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browning
  • Flint
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Starrville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Starrville is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Starrville
  • Troup
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Troup is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Troup
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,064 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Troup <1>
  • Overton
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Winona
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Swan
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Swan is located in Smith County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swan
  • Bullard
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Mixon
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Mixon is located in Cherokee County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mixon
  • Lindale
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Chandler
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Mount Selman
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Mount Selman is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Selman
    • Larissa ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Larissa is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Larissa

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

Newspapers Published in Chapel Hill ...

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 80 newspapers that have been published in the area around Chapel Hill.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Chapel Hill, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Chapel Hill.

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 Chapel Hill:

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>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- Chapel Hill) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Chapel Hill, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.