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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 Hays 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 Hays 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 Hays 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 have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Hays Crossing: Hays Xing.
  • While the name of this community is Hays Crossing, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Hays Crossing may originally have been Hay's Crossing.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Hays Crossing might be written as Hay 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 northwest 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 north.

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 north 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.

Hays Crossing is located in Coleman 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 Coleman County: Brown, Callahan, Concho, McCulloch, Runnels & Taylor.

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

  • Coleman County     (The home county of Hays Crossing)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hays Crossing, with the one closest to Hays Crossing listed first.
    • Rockwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Gouldbusk
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Whon ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whon
      • Whon is located in Coleman County
    • Voss
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Voss have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Voss
      • Voss is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Voss <2>
    • Trickham
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
      • Trickham is located in Coleman County
      • Former name for Trickham:
      • Trick'em
    • Santa Anna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Valera
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valera have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valera
      • Valera is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Valera <2>
    • Coleman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
    • Talpa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Glen Cove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
      • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hays Crossing, with the one closest to Hays Crossing listed first.
    • Brookesmith
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Keys Crossing
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Crossing
      • Keys Crossing is located in Brown County
    • Bangs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bangs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangs
      • Bangs is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,504 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bangs <2>
    • Indian Creek
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
      • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fry have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
      • Fry is located in Brown County
  • Concho County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hays Crossing, with the one closest to Hays Crossing listed first.
    • Millersview
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Eden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
      • Eden is located in Concho County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,339 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <2>
    • Paint Rock
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paint Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Rock
      • Paint Rock is located in Concho County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paint Rock <2>
  • McCulloch County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hays Crossing, with the one closest to Hays Crossing listed first.
    • Waldrip
      (Less than 2 miles to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waldrip have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldrip
      • Waldrip is located in McCulloch County
    • Lohn
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lohn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lohn
      • Lohn is located in McCulloch County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lohn <2>
    • Pear Valley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Doole ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Doole have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Doole
      • Doole is located in McCulloch County
    • Salt Gap ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salt Gap
      • Salt Gap is located in McCulloch County
    • Melvin
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Melvin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Melvin
      • Melvin is located in McCulloch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Melvin <2>
    • Rochelle
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochelle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
      • Rochelle is located in McCulloch County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochelle <2>
    • Brady
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brady have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
      • Brady is located in McCulloch County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,178 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brady <2>
  • San Saba County
    • Holt ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
      • Holt is located in San Saba County

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

Newspapers Published in Hays 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 14 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hays Crossing.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hays Crossing, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hays Crossing.

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 Hays Crossing:

Cemeteries Near Hays Crossing ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hays 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.

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

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

  • Chaffin Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Chaffin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Chaffin Cemetery
  • Marion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Fife Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fife Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fife Cemetery
  • Whon Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whon Cemetery
  • Stewardson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Stewardson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Stewardson Cemetery
  • Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hill Cemetery
  • Lohn Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lohn Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lohn Cemetery
  • Five Ashes Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Five Ashes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Five Ashes Cemetery
  • Voss Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Voss Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Voss Cemetery
  • Brown Ranch Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brown Ranch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brown Ranch Cemetery
  • Leaday Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Leaday Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Leaday Cemetery
  • Rice Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rice Cemetery is located 4 miles [6.4 km]<4> to the east of Brookesmith.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rice Cemetery
  • Continue List   (37 more) ...
    • Winchell Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Winchell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Winchell Cemetery
    • Cox Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Cox Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Cox Cemetery
    • Millersview Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 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.<6>

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

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

  • Waldrip
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Waldrip have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waldrip
    • Waldrip is located in McCulloch County
  • Rockwood
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Trickham
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
    • Trickham is located in Coleman County
    • Former name for Trickham:
    • Trick'em
  • Milburn
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milburn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
    • Milburn is located in McCulloch County
  • Santa Anna
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Valera
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valera have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valera
    • Valera is located in Coleman County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Valera <2>
  • Rochelle
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochelle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
    • Rochelle is located in McCulloch County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochelle <2>
  • Brady
    (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brady have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brady
    • Brady is located in McCulloch County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,178 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brady <2>
  • Bangs
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bangs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bangs
    • Bangs is located in Brown County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,504 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bangs <2>
  • Coleman
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
  • Indian Creek
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
    • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
  • Talpa
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Eden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eden have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eden
      • Eden is located in Concho County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,339 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Eden <2>
    • Glen Cove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glen Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
      • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
    • Thrifty
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thrifty have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thrifty
      • Thrifty is located in Brown County

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

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

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>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).
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>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- Hays Crossing) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hays Crossing. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.4702, Longitude: -99.4337       In this case, the coordinates for Hays Crossing have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<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 Hays Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024