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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 Denison (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 Denison. 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.

Denison is located in Grayson 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 Grayson County: Bryan (OK), Love (OK), Marshall (OK), Collin, Cooke, Denton & Fannin.

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

  • Grayson County     (The home county of Denison)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Denison, with the one closest to Denison listed first.
    • Red River City
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Red River City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red River City
      • Red River City is located in Grayson County
    • Frontier Village
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Frontier Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frontier Village
      • Frontier Village is located in Grayson County
    • Twin City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Twin City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Twin City
      • Twin City is located in Grayson County
    • Knollwood
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Knollwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Knollwood
      • Knollwood is located in Grayson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 503 people
    • Pottsboro
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Sherman
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Preston
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Tribune
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Tribune. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tribune
      • Tribune is located in Grayson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Tribune
      • From Denison to Tribune
    • Ida
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Luella
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Bells
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Gage
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Gage. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gage
      • Gage is located in Grayson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Gage
      • From Denison to Gage
  • Collin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Denison, with the one closest to Denison listed first.
    • Van Alstyne
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Mantua ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mantua came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<4>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mantua
      • Mantua is located in Collin County
    • Sedalia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Sedalia. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sedalia
      • Sedalia is located in Collin County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Sedalia
      • From Denison to Sedalia
    • Westminster
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Westminster have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westminster
      • Westminster is located in Collin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Westminster <2>
    • Anna
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Weston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
  • Cooke County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Denison, with the one closest to Denison listed first.
    • Dexter
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Callisburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Callisburg. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Callisburg
      • Callisburg is located in Cooke County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Callisburg
      • From Denison to Callisburg
    • Coesfield
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Coesfield. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coesfield
      • Coesfield is located in Cooke County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Coesfield
      • From Denison to Coesfield
    • Custer City ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Custer City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Custer City
      • Custer City is located in Cooke County
    • Oak Ridge
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Ridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Ridge
      • Oak Ridge is located in Cooke County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 255 people
    • Lake Kiowa
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Kiowa have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Kiowa
      • Lake Kiowa is located in Cooke County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Kiowa <2>
  • Fannin County
  • Bryan County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Denison, with the one closest to Denison listed first.
    • Cartwright
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Hendrix
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hendrix have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hendrix
      • Hendrix is located in Bryan County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 86 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hendrix <2>
    • Colbert
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Kemp
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Platter
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Achille
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Calera
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Calera have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calera
      • Calera is located in Bryan County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,414 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Calera <2>
    • Yarnaby
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Mead
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mead have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mead
      • Mead is located in Bryan County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 260 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mead <2>
    • Durant
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Yuba
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Yuba. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yuba
      • Yuba is located in Bryan County (OK)
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Yuba
      • From Denison to Yuba
    • Silo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Johnston County (OK)
  • Marshall County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Denison, with the one closest to Denison listed first.
    • McBride
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McBride have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McBride
      • McBride is located in Marshall County (OK)
    • New Woodville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Shay
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Kingston
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kingston have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
      • Kingston is located in Marshall County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,689 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kingston <2>
    • Cumberland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Little City
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Little City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little City
      • Little City is located in Marshall County (OK)
    • Lebanon
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Madill
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Oakland
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakland have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakland
      • Oakland is located in Marshall County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,161 people

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

Cemeteries Near Denison ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Denison.

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Denison had a population of 10,958 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Denison had a population of 25,792 people.

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

  • Ray
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ray have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ray
    • Ray is located in Grayson County
  • Sherman
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Preston
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Luella
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Ida
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Bells
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Steedham
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steedham have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steedham
    • Steedham is located in Grayson County
  • Savoy
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Mulberry
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
  • Southmayd
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Mormon Grove ‑ Historic
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mormon Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mormon Grove
    • Mormon Grove is located in Grayson County
  • White Mound
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White Mound have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White Mound
    • White Mound is located in Grayson County
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Denison ...

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 Denison.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Denison. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Denison and those printed in the larger area surrounding Denison.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<6> of Denison.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Denison:

The official website for Denison: www.ci.denison.tx.us/

The official website for Grayson County: www.co.grayson.tx.us/

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>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 things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Denison) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Denison. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7554, Longitude: -96.5369    
<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 Denison, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025