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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 Hawkinsville (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 Hawkinsville. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and 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.

Hawkinsville is located in Matagorda 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 Matagorda County: Brazoria, Fort Bend, Jackson & Wharton.

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

  • Matagorda County     (The home county of Hawkinsville)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hawkinsville, with the one closest to Hawkinsville listed first.
    • Sargent
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Cedar Lane
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Lane have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Lane
      • Cedar Lane is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cedar Lane <1>
    • Caney
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Caney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney
      • Caney is located in Matagorda County
    • Van Vleck
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Wadsworth
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wadsworth have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wadsworth
      • Wadsworth is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wadsworth <1>
    • Gulf ‑ Historic
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gulf have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gulf
      • Gulf is located in Matagorda County
    • Bay City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bay City have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bay City
      • Bay City is located in Matagorda County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17,474 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bay City <1>
    • Elliott ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elliott. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
      • Elliott is located in Matagorda County
      • Elliott has also been known as:
      • Elliott's
    • Chalmers
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalmers
      • Chalmers is located in Matagorda County
    • McCroskey
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCroskey
      • McCroskey is located in Matagorda County
    • Matagorda
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Pledger
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pledger have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pledger
      • Pledger is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pledger <1>
    • Markham
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Markham have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markham
      • Markham is located in Matagorda County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Markham <1>
  • Brazoria County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hawkinsville, with the one closest to Hawkinsville listed first.
    • Sweeny
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Brazoria
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Wild Peach Village
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wild Peach Village have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wild Peach Village
      • Wild Peach Village is located in Brazoria County
    • Old Ocean
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Old Ocean have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Ocean
      • Old Ocean is located in Brazoria County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Old Ocean <1>
    • Jones Creek
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • East Columbia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Columbia
      • East Columbia is located in Brazoria County
    • West Columbia
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Lake Jackson
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Jackson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Jackson
      • Lake Jackson is located in Brazoria County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 27,063 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lake Jackson <1>
    • Freeport
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freeport have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freeport
      • Freeport is located in Brazoria County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 12,126 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Freeport <1>
    • Velasco
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Velasco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Velasco
      • Velasco is located in Brazoria County
    • Clute
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clute have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clute
      • Clute is located in Brazoria County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,724 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clute <1>
    • Richwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richwood
      • Richwood is located in Brazoria County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,015 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richwood <1>
    • Bailey's Prairie
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bailey's Prairie
      • Bailey's Prairie is located in Brazoria County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 777 people
  • Wharton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hawkinsville, with the one closest to Hawkinsville listed first.
    • Newgulf
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Boling
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boling have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boling
      • Boling is located in Wharton County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Boling <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Hawkinsville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hawkinsville.

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

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

  • Bethlehem Christian Church Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • St. Paul MB Church Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Jerusalem Baptist Church Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Cedar Lake Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cedar Lake Cemetery
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Cedar Lake Cemetery. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2513725 <4>
  • Sargent Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sargent Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sargent Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jaden Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jaden Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jaden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4487 <4>
  • Berean Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Berean Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Berean Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Boone Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Williams Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Williams Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Williams Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Galilee MB Church Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Galilee MB Church Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Galilee MB Church Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<5> to the north of Brazoria.
    • The Galilee MB Church Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Galilee Cemetery
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2156979 <4>
  • Mims Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Pleasant Green Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Green Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Green Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (51 more) ...
    • Sweeny Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Brazoria Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hudgins Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hudgins Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hudgins 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.<6>

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

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

  • Hinkles Ferry
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hinkles Ferry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hinkles Ferry
    • Hinkles Ferry is located in Brazoria County
  • Brazoria
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Caney
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Caney. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney
    • Caney is located in Matagorda County
  • Velasco
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Velasco. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Velasco
    • Velasco is located in Brazoria County
  • Elliott ‑ Historic
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Elliott. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elliott
    • Elliott is located in Matagorda County
    • Elliott has also been known as:
    • Elliott's
  • Quintana
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Oyster Creek
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oyster Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oyster Creek
    • Oyster Creek is located in Brazoria County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,212 people
  • Matagorda
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Pledger
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pledger have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pledger
    • Pledger is located in Matagorda County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pledger <1>
  • Ashby
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ashby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ashby
    • Ashby is located in Matagorda County
  • Chenango
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Chenango have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chenango
    • Chenango is located in Brazoria County

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

Newspapers Published in Hawkinsville ...

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 41 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hawkinsville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hawkinsville, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hawkinsville.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we 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 Hawkinsville:

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

The official website for Matagorda County: www.co.matagorda.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>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 from Point A (ie- Hawkinsville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hawkinsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 28.8878, Longitude: -95.6697       In this case, the coordinates for Hawkinsville have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<6>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 Hawkinsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025