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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 Crabbs Prairie (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 Crabbs Prairie. 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 Crabbs Prairie ...

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 occur.

  • A typical abbreviation for Crabbs Prairie: Crabbs Pr.
  • While the name of this community is Crabbs Prairie, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Crabbs Prairie may originally have been Crabb's Prairie.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Crabbs Prairie might be written as Crabb Prairie.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Crabbs Prairie is located in Walker 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 Walker County: Grimes, Houston, Madison, Montgomery, San Jacinto & Trinity.

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

  • Walker County     (The home county of Crabbs Prairie)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crabbs Prairie, with the one closest to Crabbs Prairie listed first.
    • Huntsville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Wesley Grove
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Wesley Grove is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Grove
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Goshen is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Barado
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Barado is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barado
    • Dodge
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Riverside
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Elmina
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Elmina is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmina
    • Kittrell
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Kittrell is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kittrell
    • New Waverly
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Grimes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crabbs Prairie, with the one closest to Crabbs Prairie listed first.
    • Shiro
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Bedias
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Richards
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Roans Prairie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Apolonia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Apolonia is located in Grimes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apolonia
    • Iola
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Anderson
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Houston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crabbs Prairie, with the one closest to Crabbs Prairie listed first.
    • Antioch ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Antioch is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
    • Lovelady
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Austonio
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Austonio is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austonio
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crabbs Prairie, with the one closest to Crabbs Prairie listed first.
    • Midway
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Madisonville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Zulch ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Zulch is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zulch
    • North Zulch
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crabbs Prairie, with the one closest to Crabbs Prairie listed first.
    • Danville ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Danville is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
    • Dacus
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Dacus is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacus
    • Willis
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Willis is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,122 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willis <2>
    • Montgomery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Dobbin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Panorama Village
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Panorama Village is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panorama Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,446 people
  • San Jacinto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crabbs Prairie, with the one closest to Crabbs Prairie listed first.
    • Oakhurst
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Point Blank
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Laurel Hill
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Laurel Hill is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hill
    • Evergreen
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Evergreen is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Crabbs Prairie, with the one closest to Crabbs Prairie listed first.
    • Trinity
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Mill Town
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Mill Town is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Town
    • Carlisle
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Carlisle is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
    • Glendale
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Glendale is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
    • Chita
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Chita is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chita

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

Cemeteries Near Crabbs Prairie ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Crabbs Prairie.

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 Crabbs Prairie - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Harper Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Petree Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Hume Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Sam Houston Grave
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • North Side Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Martha Chapel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Allen Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • South Side Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Prison Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • McAdams Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (140 more) ...
    • Foster Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Falba Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Hightower Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)

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>

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

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

  • Huntsville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Bath
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Bath is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
  • Phelps
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Phelps is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
  • Dodge
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Riverside
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • New Waverly
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Connor
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Connor is located in Madison County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Connor
  • Bedias
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Midway
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Trinity
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Madisonville
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Roans Prairie
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Dacus
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Dacus is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dacus
    • Apolonia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Apolonia is located in Grimes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apolonia
    • Willis
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Willis is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,122 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willis <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Crabbs Prairie ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Crabbs Prairie.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Crabbs Prairie, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Crabbs Prairie.

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 Crabbs Prairie:

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Crabbs Prairie) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Crabbs Prairie, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.