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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 Graford (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 Graford. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Graford 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 Graford. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Graford:

  • Palo Pinto County     (The home county of Graford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Graford, with the one closest to Graford listed first.
    • Salesville
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Salesville is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salesville
    • Palo Pinto
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
    • Mineral Wells
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Wolters Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Wolters Village is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolters Village
    • Brazos
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Brazos is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos
    • Santo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Gordon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Mingus
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
    • Strawn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Jack County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Graford, with the one closest to Graford listed first.
    • Perrin
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Bob Town
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Bob Town is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bob Town
    • Bryson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Gibtown
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Gibtown is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibtown
    • Jacksboro
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Westbrook
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Westbrook is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook
    • Jermyn
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Wizard Wells
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Wizard Wells is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wizard Wells
  • Parker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Graford, with the one closest to Graford listed first.
    • Whitt
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Cool
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Cool is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
    • Authon
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Authon is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Authon
    • Adell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Adell is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adell
    • Millsap
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Lemley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Lemley is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemley
    • Peaster
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Poolville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Brock
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Brock is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock
    • Greenwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenwood is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Agnes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Agnes is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnes
    • Dennis
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Stephens County
  • Wise County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Graford, with the one closest to Graford listed first.
    • Boonsville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Boonsville is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsville
    • Runaway Bay
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Bridgeport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake Bridgeport is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Bridgeport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 405 people
  • Young County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Graford, with the one closest to Graford listed first.
    • Bunger
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Bunger is located in Young County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunger
    • Graham
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • South Bend
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Loving
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Eliasville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Eliasville is located in Young County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eliasville

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

Cemeteries Near Graford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Graford.

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

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

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

  • Garden of Memories Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Lu Queen Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Union Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Halsell Ranch Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Locke Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Wood Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Bartons Chapel Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Indian Creek Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Long Hollow Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • McAdams Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Staggs Prairie Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Hittson Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (113 more) ...
    • Pollard Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Woodland Park Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Perrino Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)

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.<3>

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

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

  • Oran
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Oran is located in Palo Pinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oran
  • Salesville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Salesville is located in Palo Pinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salesville
  • Palo Pinto
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
  • Mineral Wells
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Whitt
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Garner
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Garner is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
  • Bryson
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Authon
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Authon is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Authon
  • Joplin
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Joplin is located in Jack County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joplin
  • Millsap
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Adell
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Adell is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adell
  • Brazos
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Brazos is located in Palo Pinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Jacksboro
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Lemley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Lemley is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemley
    • Peaster
      (22 miles [35.4 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 Graford. See our List of 1890's Communities around Graford.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Graford ...

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 Graford.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Graford. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Graford and those printed in the larger area surrounding Graford.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Graford.

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 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 Graford:

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>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 Graford, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>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- Graford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.