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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 Halsell (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 Halsell. 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.

Halsell is located in Clay 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 Clay County: Cotton (OK), Jefferson (OK), Archer, Jack, Montague & Wichita.

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

  • Clay County     (The home county of Halsell)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
    • Bluegrove
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jolly
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
      • Jolly is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
    • Henrietta
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Joy
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy
      • Joy is located in Clay County
    • Dean
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
      • Dean is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
    • Shannon
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon
      • Shannon is located in Clay County
    • Bellevue
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellevue have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
      • Bellevue is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 350 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bellevue <1>
    • Petrolia
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Petrolia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Petrolia
      • Petrolia is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 671 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Petrolia <1>
    • Thornberry
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Thornberry. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornberry
      • Thornberry is located in Clay County
    • Byers
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Byers have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Byers
      • Byers is located in Clay County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 454 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Byers <1>
    • Newport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
      • Newport is located in Clay County
  • Archer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
    • Scotland
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scotland have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scotland
      • Scotland is located in Archer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 482 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Scotland <1>
    • Windthorst
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Lakeside City
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeside City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside City
      • Lakeside City is located in Archer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,008 people
    • Archer City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Holliday
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Anarene ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Anarene have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anarene
      • Anarene is located in Archer County
  • Jack County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
    • Antelope
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Antelope have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antelope
      • Antelope is located in Jack County
    • Postoak
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postoak
      • Postoak is located in Jack County
  • Montague County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
    • Ringgold
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Belcherville ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belcherville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belcherville
      • Belcherville is located in Montague County
    • Bowie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bowie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowie
      • Bowie is located in Montague County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,140 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bowie <1>
  • Wichita County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
    • Wichita Falls
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Pleasant Valley
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pleasant Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
      • Pleasant Valley is located in Wichita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
    • Cashion Community
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cashion Community have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashion Community
      • Cashion Community is located in Wichita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 360 people
    • Iowa Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iowa Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Park
      • Iowa Park is located in Wichita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,431 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iowa Park <1>
    • Burkburnett
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Burkburnett have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burkburnett
      • Burkburnett is located in Wichita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,405 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burkburnett <1>
    • Kamay
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kamay have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kamay
      • Kamay is located in Wichita County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kamay <1>
  • Young County
    • Farmer
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
      • Farmer is located in Young County
  • Jefferson County (OK)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Halsell, with the one closest to Halsell listed first.
    • Terral
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Terral have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Terral
      • Terral is located in Jefferson County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 382 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Terral <1>
    • Fleetwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fleetwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleetwood
      • Fleetwood is located in Jefferson County (OK)
    • Ryan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ryan have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan
      • Ryan is located in Jefferson County (OK)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ryan <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Halsell ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Halsell.

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

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

  • Halsell Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Halsell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Halsell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • White Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Hill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Deer Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deer Creek Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Deer Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bluegrove Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bluegrove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bluegrove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lake Creek Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • St. Boniface Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • St. Mary Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Mary Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Mary Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • St. Marys Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Marys Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the west of Windthorst.
    • The St. Marys Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Windhorst Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1703567 <4>
  • Cullers Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cullers Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cullers Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Crestview Memorial Park
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Crestview Memorial Park
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Crestview Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cambridge Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cambridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cambridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Bowman Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (49 more) ...
    • Kempner Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kempner Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Kempner Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Friendship Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Friendship Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Friendship Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Lakeview Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)

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.<5>

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

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

  • Bluegrove
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jolly
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
    • Jolly is located in Clay County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
  • Henrietta
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Wichita Falls
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Archer City
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
  • Antelope
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Antelope have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antelope
    • Antelope is located in Jack County
  • Bellevue
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bellevue have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellevue
    • Bellevue is located in Clay County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 350 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bellevue <1>
  • Hurnville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hurnville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurnville
    • Hurnville is located in Clay County
  • Postoak
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postoak
    • Postoak is located in Jack County
  • Holliday
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
  • Thornberry
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Thornberry. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornberry
    • Thornberry is located in Clay County
  • Markley
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Markley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markley
    • Markley is located in Young County
  • Continue List   (5 more) ...
    • Newport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
      • Newport is located in Clay County
    • Iowa Park
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Iowa Park have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Iowa Park
      • Iowa Park is located in Wichita County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,431 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Iowa Park <1>
    • Charlie
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Charlie have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlie
      • Charlie is located in Clay County

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

Newspapers Published in Halsell ...

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 43 newspapers that have been published in the area around Halsell.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Halsell, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Halsell.

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 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 Halsell:

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

The official website for Clay County: www.co.clay.tx.us/

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>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>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 Halsell, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Halsell) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Halsell. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.7195, Longitude: -98.3448       In this case, the coordinates for Halsell have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025