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The Commemorative Quarter for Texas





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 Girard (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 Girard. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals 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.

Girard is located in Kent 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 Kent County: Crosby, Dickens, Fisher, Garza, King, Scurry & Stonewall.

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

  • Kent County     (The home county of Girard)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Girard, with the one closest to Girard listed first.
    • Jayton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Clairemont
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clairemont
      • Clairemont is located in Kent County
  • Dickens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Girard, with the one closest to Girard listed first.
    • Spur
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spur
      • Spur is located in Dickens County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,167 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Spur <1>
    • Dickens
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Afton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • King County
    • Guthrie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guthrie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guthrie
      • Guthrie is located in King County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guthrie <1>
  • Stonewall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Girard, with the one closest to Girard listed first.
    • Double Mountain
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Double Mountain. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Mountain
      • Double Mountain is located in Stonewall County
    • Aspermont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Girard ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Girard.

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

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

  • Jayton Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jayton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jayton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Red Mud Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Red Mud Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Red Mud Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spur Memorial Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spur Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spur Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Steele Hill Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Steele Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Steele Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Clairemont Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Clairemont Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Clairemont Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oriana Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oriana Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oriana Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gilkerson Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gilkerson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gilkerson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Espuela Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Espuela Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Espuela Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Brazos Valley Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brazos Valley Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brazos Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Dickens Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dickens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dickens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Riverdale Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Riverdale Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Riverdale Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Amity Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Amity Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Amity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Shadle Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shadle Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shadle Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Mt. Olive Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Olive Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Olive Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Johnson Cemetery
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Girard in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Girard.

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

  • Jayton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Double Mountain
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Double Mountain. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Double Mountain
    • Double Mountain is located in Stonewall County
  • Guthrie
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Guthrie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guthrie
    • Guthrie is located in King County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Guthrie <1>
  • Aspermont
    (29 miles [46.7 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 Girard. See our List of 1890's Communities around Girard.

Newspapers Published in Girard ...

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 10 newspapers that have been published in the area around Girard.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Girard, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Girard.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Girard:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Girard. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/

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 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.
<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>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 Girard, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Girard) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Girard. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.3623, Longitude: -100.6629       In this case, the coordinates for Girard have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025