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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 Dunns Fort (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 Dunns Fort. 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 Dunns Fort ...

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 Dunns Fort: Dunns Ft. (or less commonly used: Dunns Frt.)
  • While the name of this community is Dunns Fort, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Dunns Fort may originally have been Dunn's Fort.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Dunns Fort might be written as Dunn Fort.

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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors 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.

Dunns Fort is located in Robertson 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 Robertson County: Brazos, Burleson, Falls, Leon, Limestone, Madison & Milam.

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

  • Robertson County     (The home county of Dunns Fort)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunns Fort, with the one closest to Dunns Fort listed first.
    • Wheelock
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Benchley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Benchley is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benchley
    • Hearne
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Hearne is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hearne
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,340 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hearne <2>
    • Elliot
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Elliot is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliot
    • Franklin
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • New Baden
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Mumford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Owensville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Owensville is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Owensville
    • Calvert
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Ridge
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Ridge is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
    • Hammond
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Hammond is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hammond
    • Bald Prairie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Bald Prairie is located in Robertson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bald Prairie
    • Bremond
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Brazos County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunns Fort, with the one closest to Dunns Fort listed first.
    • Tabor
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Tabor is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
    • Edge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Edge is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edge
    • Wixon Valley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Wixon Valley is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wixon Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 254 people
    • Rye ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Rye is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rye
    • Kurten
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Bryan
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Bryan is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 88,165 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bryan <2>
    • Boonville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Boonville is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonville
    • College Station
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Stone City
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Stone City is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stone City
    • Wellborn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Millican
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Burleson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunns Fort, with the one closest to Dunns Fort listed first.
    • Cooks Point
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Cooks Point is located in Burleson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooks Point
    • Tunis
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Tunis is located in Burleson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunis
    • Snook
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Caldwell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Chriesman
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Merle ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Merle is located in Burleson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merle
  • Grimes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunns Fort, with the one closest to Dunns Fort listed first.
    • Iola
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Bedias
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
  • Leon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunns Fort, with the one closest to Dunns Fort listed first.
    • Wealthy
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Wealthy is located in Leon County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wealthy
    • Hilltop Lakes
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Normangee
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Flynn
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Marquez
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Madison County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunns Fort, with the one closest to Dunns Fort listed first.
    • North Zulch
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Zulch ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Zulch is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zulch
    • George
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • George is located in Madison County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for George
  • Milam County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Dunns Fort, with the one closest to Dunns Fort listed first.
    • Port Sullivan ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Port Sullivan is located in Milam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Port Sullivan
    • Gause
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Branchville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Branchville is located in Milam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Branchville
    • Crossroads
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Crossroads is located in Milam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crossroads
    • Jones Prairie
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Jones Prairie is located in Milam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jones Prairie
    • Maysfield
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Baileyville
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Baileyville is located in Milam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baileyville
    • Milano
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Marlow
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Marlow is located in Milam County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlow

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

Cemeteries Near Dunns Fort ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Dunns Fort.

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 Dunns Fort - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Wheelock Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Arnett Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Cavitt Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Bickham Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Cottonwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Cottonwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
  • Walker Settlement Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Henry Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Hammond Colony Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Suggs Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Hearne Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Schultze Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (218 more) ...
    • Galloway Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • New Bethlehem Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Ebenezer 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.<4>

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

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

  • Wheelock
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Tabor
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Tabor is located in Brazos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tabor
  • Sutton
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Sutton is located in Robertson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sutton
  • Benchley
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Benchley is located in Robertson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benchley
  • Hearne
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Hearne is located in Robertson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hearne
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,340 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hearne <2>
  • Elliot
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Elliot is located in Robertson County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliot
  • Franklin
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Kurten
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • New Baden
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Mumford
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Bryan
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Bryan is located in Brazos County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bryan
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 88,165 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bryan <2>
  • Calvert
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • College Station
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Harvey
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Harvey is located in Brazos County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harvey
    • Gause
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Dunns Fort ...

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 59 newspapers that have been published in the area around Dunns Fort.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Dunns Fort, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Dunns Fort.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Dunns Fort:

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>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.
<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 Dunns Fort, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Dunns Fort) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.