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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 Gordon Junction (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 Gordon Junction. 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 Gordon Junction ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Gordon Junction: Gordon Jct. (or less commonly used: Gordon Jctn.)

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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Gordon Junction is located in Palo Pinto 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 Palo Pinto County: Eastland, Erath, Hood, Jack, Parker, Stephens & Young.

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

  • Palo Pinto County     (The home county of Gordon Junction)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon Junction, with the one closest to Gordon Junction listed first.
    • Gordon
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Mingus
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Santo
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Strawn
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Brazos
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Brazos is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos
    • Palo Pinto
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
    • Mineral Wells
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Wolters Village
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Wolters Village is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolters Village
    • Graford
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Salesville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Salesville is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salesville
  • Comanche County
    • Rucker
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Rucker is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
  • Eastland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon Junction, with the one closest to Gordon Junction listed first.
    • Ranger
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Desdemona
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Olden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Kokomo
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Kokomo is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kokomo
    • Gorman
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Eastland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
  • Erath County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon Junction, with the one closest to Gordon Junction listed first.
    • Thurber
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Hannibal
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Hannibal is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
    • Morgan Mill
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Lingleville
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Bluff Dale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Stephenville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Bunyan
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Bunyan is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunyan
    • Harbin
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Harbin is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harbin
  • Hood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon Junction, with the one closest to Gordon Junction listed first.
    • Lipan
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Tolar
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Oak Trail Shores
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Oak Trail Shores is located in Hood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Trail Shores
    • Paluxy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Parker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon Junction, with the one closest to Gordon Junction listed first.
    • Dennis
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Millsap
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Brock
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Brock is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock
    • Cool
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Cool is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
    • Greenwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Greenwood is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
  • Stephens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gordon Junction, with the one closest to Gordon Junction listed first.
    • La Casa ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • La Casa is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Casa
    • Caddo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Necessity
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Necessity is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Necessity
    • Wayland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Wayland is located in Stephens County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayland

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

Cemeteries Near Gordon Junction ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gordon Junction.

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 Gordon Junction - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Doty Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the west)
  • Gibson Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Blue Flat Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Blue Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • New Gordon Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Russel Chapel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Old Gordon Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Swank Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Brierton Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Thurber Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Johnson Vault
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (125 more) ...
    • Fox Mtn. Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • McSpadden Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Liberty Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 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 Gordon Junction in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Gordon Junction.

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

  • Gordon
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Thurber
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Santo
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Strawn
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Hannibal
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Hannibal is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
  • Huckabay
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Huckabay is located in Erath County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huckabay
  • Brazos
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Brazos is located in Palo Pinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos
  • Lipan
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Palo Pinto
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Lingleville
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
  • Tiffin
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Tiffin is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiffin
  • Ranger
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Bluff Dale
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Desdemona
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Stephenville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Gordon Junction ...

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 57 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gordon Junction.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Gordon Junction, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Gordon Junction.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to 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 Gordon Junction:

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 Gordon Junction, 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' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Gordon Junction) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.