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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 Collin (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 Collin. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

Collin is located in Collin 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 Collin County: Dallas, Denton, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt & Rockwall.

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

  • Collin County     (The home county of Collin)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Collin, with the one closest to Collin listed first.
    • Rockhill
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Rockhill is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rockhill
    • Prosper
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Frisco
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Rhea Mills
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Rhea Mills is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhea Mills
    • Celina
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • McKinney
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Roland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Roland is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roland
    • Allen
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Allen is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109,379 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <1>
    • Hebron
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Hebron is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
    • Fairview
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Parris
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
      • Parris is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parris
    • Weston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Comanche County
    • Cross Roads
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Cross Roads is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
  • Cooke County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Collin, with the one closest to Collin listed first.
    • Bloomfield
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Bloomfield is located in Cooke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bloomfield
    • Hemming
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Hemming is located in Cooke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hemming
    • Burns City
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Burns City is located in Cooke County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burns City
    • Lake Kiowa
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Valley View
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Dallas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Collin, with the one closest to Collin listed first.
    • Lewisville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Trinity Mills
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Trinity Mills is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trinity Mills
    • Addison
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Richardson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Buckingham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Buckingham is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
    • Farmers Branch
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Coppell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Garland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Grapevine
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • University Park
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
    • Centerville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Centerville is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerville
    • Estelle
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Estelle is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Estelle
  • Denton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Collin, with the one closest to Collin listed first.
    • Hackberry
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Hackberry is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,094 people
    • Little Elm
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • The Colony
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Providence Village
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
      • Providence Village is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Providence Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,564 people
    • Lincoln Park
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Lincoln Park is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lincoln Park
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 567 people
    • Lakewood Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Lakewood Village is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,002 people
    • Cross Roads
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Oak Point
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Krugerville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Krugerville is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Krugerville
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,871 people
    • Aubrey
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hickory Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Lake Dallas
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Grayson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Collin, with the one closest to Collin listed first.
    • Gunter
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Tioga
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Tioga is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tioga
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,117 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tioga <1>
    • Ethel
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Ethel is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ethel
    • Dorchester
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Dorchester is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dorchester
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96 people
    • Howe
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Howe is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,390 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Howe <1>
    • Collinsville
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Cannon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Cannon is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon
    • Pilot Grove
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Pilot Grove is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pilot Grove
    • Southmayd
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Luella
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Luella is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Luella
    • Tom Bean
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Tribune
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Tribune is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tribune
  • Hunt County
  • Rockwall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Collin, with the one closest to Collin listed first.
    • Rockwall
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fate
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Fate is located in Rockwall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fate
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,434 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fate <1>
    • Mobile City
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Mobile City is located in Rockwall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mobile City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
  • Tarrant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Collin, with the one closest to Collin listed first.
    • Minters Chapel ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Minters Chapel is located in Tarrant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minters Chapel
    • Colleyville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Bransford
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Bransford is located in Tarrant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bransford
    • Euless
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bedford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Keller
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Collin ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Collin.

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 Collin - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Bethel Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Zion Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Ware Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Sonntag Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Hunt Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Walnut Grove Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Grove Cemetery
    • The Walnut Grove Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Old Walnut Grove Cemetery
  • Little Elm Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Rowlett Creek Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Scott Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Old Celina Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Bridges Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (232 more) ...
    • Baccus Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Williams Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Cemetery
      • The Williams Cemetery has also been known as:
      • Williams / Mt. Olive Cemetery
    • Corinth Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)

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.<2>

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

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

  • Parvin
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Parvin is located in Denton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parvin
  • Lebanon
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
    • Lebanon is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
  • Rhea Mills
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Rhea Mills is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rhea Mills
  • Navo
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Navo is located in Denton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navo
  • Little Elm
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Celina
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Mustang
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Mustang is located in Denton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mustang
  • Allen
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Allen is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 109,379 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <1>
  • McKinney
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Roland
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Roland is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roland
  • Hebron
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Hebron is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
  • Aubrey
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Weston
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Lewisville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Renner
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Renner is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renner

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

Newspapers Published in Collin ...

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 82 newspapers that have been published in the area around Collin.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Collin, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Collin.

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 Collin:

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>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 Collin, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>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- Collin) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.