RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Texas >> Rockwall County >> Fate >> Genealogy HelperIndex...

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 Fate (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 Fate. 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.

Fate is located in Rockwall 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 Rockwall County: Collin, Dallas, Hunt & Kaufman.

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

  • Rockwall County     (The home county of Fate)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fate, with the one closest to Fate listed first.
    • Mobile City
      (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Blackland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Rockwall
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • McLendon - Chisholm
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
      • McLendon - Chisholm is located in Rockwall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLendon - Chisholm
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,815 people
  • Collin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fate, with the one closest to Fate listed first.
    • Royse City
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Nevada
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Lavon
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Copeville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Josephine
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Wylie
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Wylie is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wylie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,467 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wylie <1>
    • Clear Lake
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Clear Lake is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
    • Saint Paul
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Saint Paul is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Paul
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,039 people
    • Sachse
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Murphy
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Farmersville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Lucas
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Lucas is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,819 people
  • Dallas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fate, with the one closest to Fate listed first.
    • Rowlett
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Sunnyvale
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • New Hope
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • New Hope is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Hope
    • Centerville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Garland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Mesquite
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Lawson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Buckingham
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Buckingham is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
    • Richardson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Balch Springs
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Rawlins
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Rawlins is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rawlins
    • Kleberg
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Ellis County
    • Walnut Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Walnut Springs is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walnut Springs
  • Hunt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fate, with the one closest to Fate listed first.
    • Union Valley
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Union Valley is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
    • Caddo Mills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Hendrix
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Clinton
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Quinlan
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Boles Home
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Hawk Cove
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Hawk Cove is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawk Cove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 562 people
    • Weiland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Merit
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Greenville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • West Tawakoni
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • West Tawakoni is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Tawakoni
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,994 people
    • Dixon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Kaufman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fate, with the one closest to Fate listed first.
    • Heath
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Heath is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heath
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,718 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Heath <1>
    • Poetry
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Forney
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Lawrence
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Lawrence is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
    • Terrell
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Talty
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Talty is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talty
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,883 people
    • Ables Springs
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Post Oak Bend City
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Post Oak Bend City is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Oak Bend City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 626 people
    • Elmo
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Lone Star
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Lone Star is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Star
    • Crandall
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • College Mound
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • College Mound is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for College Mound
  • Rains County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Fate, with the one closest to Fate listed first.
    • Hooker Ridge
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • East Tawakoni
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • East Tawakoni is located in Rains County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Tawakoni
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 991 people
    • Flats
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
    • Point
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Van Zandt County

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

Cemeteries Near Fate ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Fate.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Fate, with the one closest to Fate 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.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Fate had a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Fate had a population of 17,434 people.

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

  • Rockwall
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Blackland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Millwood
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Millwood is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
  • Royse City
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Lavon
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Nevada
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Chisholm
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Chisholm is located in Rockwall County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chisholm
  • Heath
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Heath is located in Kaufman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heath
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,718 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Heath <1>
  • Josephine
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Wylie
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Wylie is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wylie
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,467 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wylie <1>
  • Copeville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Rowlett
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Caddo Mills
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Pleasant Valley
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Pleasant Valley is located in Dallas County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
    • Poetry
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Fate ...

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 93 newspapers that have been published in the area around Fate.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Fate, 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 Fate.

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 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 Fate:

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Fate) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<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 Fate, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.