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 Forest Heights (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 Forest Heights. 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 Forest Heights ...
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.
For example, a typical abbreviation for Forest Heights: Forest Hts. (in Canada, 'Hgts.' is the more common abbreviation.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Forest Heights. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Forest Heights.
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/Parishes ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties/parishes.
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/parishes 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/parishes, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Forest Heights is located in Orange 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 Orange County: Calcasieu (LA), Cameron (LA), Hardin, Jasper, Jefferson & Newton.
Below are the counties/parishes that are near Forest Heights. For each of these counties/parishes, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Forest Heights:
- Orange County (The home county of Forest Heights)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
- Lemonville ‑ Historic
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Lemonville is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemonville
- Mauriceville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Texla
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Texla is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texla
- Pinehurst
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Pinehurst is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,959 people
- Orange
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- West Orange
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Orangefield
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Terry
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Terry is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Bridge City
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
- Vidor
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Pine Forest
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Pine Forest is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Forest
- Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
- Pine Grove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- Pine Grove is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
- Rose City
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Rose City is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 489 people
- Hardin County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
- Loeb
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Loeb is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loeb
- Silsbee
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Lumberton
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Rose Hill Acres
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Rose Hill Acres is located in Hardin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill Acres
- Population from the 2020 Census: 435 people
- Jasper County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
- Bunker Hill
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Bunker Hill is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
- Buna
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- Evadale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Call Junction
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Call Junction is located in Jasper County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Call Junction
- Kirbyville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
- Jefferson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
- Central Gardens
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Central Gardens is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Central Gardens
- Groves
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Port Neches
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Higgins
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Higgins is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higgins
- Nederland
(23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
- Beaumont
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Port Arthur
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Voth
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Amelia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Amelia is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
- Port Acres
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Newton County
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
- Deweyville
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Call
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Beauregard Parish (LA)
- Helme
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
- Helme is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helme
- Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- The following are listed by their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
- Starks
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Vinton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
- Edgerly
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
- Carlyss
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Carlyss is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlyss
- Sulphur
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Dequincy
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
- Prien
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Prien is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prien
- Westlake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Cameron Parish (LA)
- Hackberry
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Forest Heights, see our County-by-County Page for Forest Heights.
Cemeteries Near Forest Heights ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Forest Heights.
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 Forest Heights - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Forest Heights covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
- Wilkinson Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Parish Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Doyle Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Lee Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Granger Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Miller Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Hebrew Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Comier Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Reed Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- St. Mary Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Fountain Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Continue List (78 more) ...
- Linscomb Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Jett Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Hollywood Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
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.<2>
While we didn't find Forest Heights in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Forest Heights.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Forest Heights, with the one closest to Forest Heights listed first.
- Echo
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Echo is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
- Tulane
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- Tulane is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tulane
- Orange
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Vinton
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
- Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
- Terry
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Terry is located in Orange County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terry
- Edgerly
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
- Beaumont
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Rosedale
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Rosedale is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosedale
- Amelia
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Amelia is located in Jefferson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Amelia
- Hackberry
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Westlake
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Forest Heights. See our List of 1890's Communities around Forest Heights.
Newspapers Published in Forest Heights ...
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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Forest Heights.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Forest Heights, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Forest Heights.
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 either 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 Forest Heights:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Orange County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Hardin County
- Jasper County
- Jefferson County
- Newton County
- Beauregard Parish
- Calcasieu Parish
- Cameron Parish
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
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> | 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 Forest Heights, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <3> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Forest Heights) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |