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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 Cotton (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 Cotton. 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.

Cotton is located in Grimes 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 Grimes County: Brazos, Madison, Montgomery, Walker, Waller & Washington.

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

  • Grimes County     (The home county of Cotton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cotton, with the one closest to Cotton listed first.
    • Bedias
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Iola
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iola
      • Iola is located in Grimes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iola <1>
    • Shiro
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Roans Prairie
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roans Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roans Prairie
      • Roans Prairie is located in Grimes County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roans Prairie <1>
    • Richards
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richards have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richards
      • Richards is located in Grimes County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richards <1>
    • Apolonia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Apolonia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apolonia
      • Apolonia is located in Grimes County
    • Anderson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anderson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
      • Anderson is located in Grimes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 248 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anderson <1>
  • Brazos County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cotton, with the one closest to Cotton listed first.
    • Kurten
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Edge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edge
      • Edge is located in Brazos County
    • Wixon Valley
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wixon Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wixon Valley
      • Wixon Valley is located in Brazos County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
    • Boonville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonville
      • Boonville is located in Brazos County
    • Tabor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
      • Tabor is located in Brazos County
    • College Station
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Bryan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
      • Bryan is located in Brazos County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 88,165 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bryan <1>
  • Houston County
    • Austonio
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austonio
      • Austonio is located in Houston County
  • Leon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cotton, with the one closest to Cotton listed first.
    • Normangee
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Normangee have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Normangee
      • Normangee is located in Leon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 710 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Normangee <1>
    • Wealthy
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wealthy
      • Wealthy is located in Leon County
    • Leona
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leona
      • Leona is located in Leon County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leona <1>
    • Middleton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Middleton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
      • Middleton is located in Leon County
    • Flynn
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flynn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flynn
      • Flynn is located in Leon County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flynn <1>
    • Hilltop Lakes
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Centerview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
      • Centerview is located in Leon County
    • Centerville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cotton, with the one closest to Cotton listed first.
    • Madisonville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Zulch ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zulch came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zulch
      • Zulch is located in Madison County
    • North Zulch
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Midway
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • George
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
      • George is located in Madison County
  • Montgomery County
    • Dacus
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacus
      • Dacus is located in Montgomery County
  • Robertson County
  • Walker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Cotton, with the one closest to Cotton listed first.
    • Wesley Grove
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Grove
      • Wesley Grove is located in Walker County
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Goshen have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
      • Goshen is located in Walker County
    • Huntsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Kittrell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kittrell
      • Kittrell is located in Walker County
    • Riverside
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Riverside have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Riverside
      • Riverside is located in Walker County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 547 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Riverside <1>
    • Dodge
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dodge have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dodge
      • Dodge is located in Walker County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dodge <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Cotton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Cotton.

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

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

  • Carter Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carter Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Carter Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2241412 <5>
  • Long Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Long Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Long Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bethel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bethel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bethel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Bethel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • McCowan Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McCowan Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McCowan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Farris Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Farris Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Farris Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Park Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Park Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Park Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • McAdams Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McAdams Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McAdams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rocky Hill Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rocky Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rocky Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mustang Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mustang Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mustang Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Burrows Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Burrows Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Burrows Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oxford Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (149 more) ...
    • High Prairie Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the High Prairie Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the High Prairie Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Greenbriar Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Zion Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)

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.<7>

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

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

  • Bedias
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Madisonville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Connor
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Connor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connor
    • Connor is located in Madison County
  • Iola
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iola have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iola
    • Iola is located in Grimes County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 433 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iola <1>
  • Zulch ‑ Historic
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Zulch came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zulch
    • Zulch is located in Madison County
  • Midway
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Keith
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keith have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keith
    • Keith is located in Grimes County
  • Roans Prairie
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roans Prairie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roans Prairie
    • Roans Prairie is located in Grimes County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roans Prairie <1>
  • Huntsville
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Leona
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leona have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leona
    • Leona is located in Leon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 179 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leona <1>
  • Bath
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bath have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
    • Bath is located in Walker County
  • Kurten
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Apolonia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Apolonia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apolonia
      • Apolonia is located in Grimes County
    • Middleton
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Middleton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
      • Middleton is located in Leon County
    • Anderson
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anderson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anderson
      • Anderson is located in Grimes County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 248 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Anderson <1>

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

Newspapers Published in Cotton ...

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 76 newspapers that have been published in the area around Cotton.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Cotton, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Cotton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Cotton:

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

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

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 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.
<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>If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database.
<5>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.
<6>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 from Point A (ie- Cotton) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Cotton. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.8316, Longitude: -95.8947       In this case, the coordinates for Cotton have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<7>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 Cotton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025