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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

So far, we found very little information about Gwinns Crossing. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>

We've added Gwinns Crossing to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Gwinns Crossing, please Contact Us.

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 Gwinns Crossing (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 Gwinns Crossing. 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 Gwinns Crossing ...

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.

  • A typical abbreviation for Gwinns Crossing: Gwinns Xing.
  • While the name of this community is Gwinns Crossing, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<2>. So Gwinns Crossing may originally have been Gwinn's Crossing.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Gwinns Crossing might be written as Gwinn Crossing.

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.

Although our information shows that the community of Gwinns Crossing is historic, it would have been located within present day Colorado 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 Colorado County: Austin, Fayette, Lavaca & Wharton.

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

  • Colorado County     (The home county of Gwinns Crossing)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gwinns Crossing, with the one closest to Gwinns Crossing listed first.
    • Altair
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Rock Island
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Rock Island is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Island
    • Garwood
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Eagle Lake
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Ramsey
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Ramsey is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
    • Boedecker Junction
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Boedecker Junction is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boedecker Junction
    • Eldridge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Eldridge is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eldridge
    • Matthews
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Matthews is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Matthews
    • Nada
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Alleyton
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Columbus
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Sheridan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Austin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gwinns Crossing, with the one closest to Gwinns Crossing listed first.
    • Rexville ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Rexville is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexville
    • Cat Spring
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • New Ulm
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Sealy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Wallis
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Millheim
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Millheim is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millheim
    • Frydek
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Frydek is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frydek
    • San Felipe
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Industry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Brazos Country
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Brazos Country is located in Austin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos Country
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 472 people
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gwinns Crossing, with the one closest to Gwinns Crossing listed first.
    • Ellinger
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Dubina ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Dubina is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dubina
    • Schulenburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Fayetteville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Joiner
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Joiner is located in Fayette County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joiner
  • Fort Bend County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gwinns Crossing, with the one closest to Gwinns Crossing listed first.
    • Powell Point
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Powell Point is located in Fort Bend County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell Point
    • Kendleton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Orchard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Lavaca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gwinns Crossing, with the one closest to Gwinns Crossing listed first.
    • Sublime
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Speaks
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Hackberry ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Hackberry is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
    • Gleckler
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Gleckler is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gleckler
    • Hallettsville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
  • Wharton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Gwinns Crossing, with the one closest to Gwinns Crossing listed first.
    • Bonus
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Bonus is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonus
    • Lissie
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Egypt
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Hahn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
      • Hahn is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hahn
    • Nottawa
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Nottawa is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottawa
    • Glen Flora
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • East Bernard
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Hungerford
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • El Campo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Mackay
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Mackay is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mackay
    • Pierce
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Wharton
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Gwinns Crossing ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Gwinns Crossing.

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 Gwinns Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Garwood Methodist Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Myrtle Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Garwood Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Adams Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Pinchback Obenchain Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Lakeside Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Union Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Eagle Lake Community Cemetery East
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Lake Community Cemetery East
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Eagle Lake Community Cemetery East is located outside and to the southeast of Eagle Lake.
    • The Eagle Lake Community Cemetery East has also been known as:
    • Farmer's Improvement Society Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2534494 <4>
  • Mexican Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Alley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Nada Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (165 more) ...
    • Frazer Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Allen Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Cheetham Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)

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.

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

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

  • Altair
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Eagle Lake
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Ramsey
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Ramsey is located in Colorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
  • Alleyton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Columbus
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Glidden
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Mentz
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Mentz is located in Colorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mentz
  • Borden
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Borden is located in Colorado County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden
  • Nottawa
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Nottawa is located in Wharton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nottawa
  • Sublime
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
  • Vienna
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Vienna is located in Lavaca County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
  • Cat Spring
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Oakland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Frelsburg
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Frelsburg is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frelsburg
    • East Bernard
      (24 miles [38.6 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 Gwinns Crossing. See our List of 1890's Communities around Gwinns Crossing.

Newspapers Published in Gwinns Crossing ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Gwinns Crossing.

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

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 Gwinns Crossing:

Footnotes ...

<1>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 Gwinns Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<2>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<4>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.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Gwinns Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.