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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 Spring (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 Spring. 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 Spring ...

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 Spring: Hays Spg. (or less commonly used: Hays Spng. or Hays Sprng.)
  • While the name of this community is Hays Spring, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Hays Spring may originally have been Hay's Spring.

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

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 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.

Hays Spring is located in Houston 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 Houston County: Anderson, Angelina, Cherokee, Leon, Madison, Trinity & Walker.

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

  • Houston County     (The home county of Hays Spring)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hays Spring, with the one closest to Hays Spring listed first.
    • Grapeland
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Latexo
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Refuge
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Refuge
      • Refuge is located in Houston County
    • Halls Bluff Town ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Halls Bluff Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halls Bluff Town
      • Halls Bluff Town is located in Houston County
    • Crockett
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crockett have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett
      • Crockett is located in Houston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,350 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crockett <2>
    • Belott
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belott
      • Belott is located in Houston County
    • Hickory Creek
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hickory Creek
      • Hickory Creek is located in Houston County
    • Porter Springs
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Springs
      • Porter Springs is located in Houston County
    • Cooper
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cooper have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
      • Cooper is located in Houston County
    • Harrison Town
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Harrison Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrison Town
      • Harrison Town is located in Houston County
    • Austonio
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austonio
      • Austonio is located in Houston County
    • Kennard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kennard have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kennard
      • Kennard is located in Houston County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 325 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kennard <2>
  • Anderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hays Spring, with the one closest to Hays Spring listed first.
    • Salmon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salmon
      • Salmon is located in Anderson County
    • Mound City
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mound City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mound City
      • Mound City is located in Anderson County
    • Elkhart
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Slocum
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Slocum
      • Slocum is located in Anderson County
    • Alderbranch
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alderbranch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alderbranch
      • Alderbranch is located in Anderson County
    • Lakeview Assembly
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lakeview Assembly have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeview Assembly
      • Lakeview Assembly is located in Anderson County
    • Crystal Lake
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crystal Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crystal Lake
      • Crystal Lake is located in Anderson County
    • Deanwright
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Deanwright have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deanwright
      • Deanwright is located in Anderson County
    • Kossuth
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kossuth have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kossuth
      • Kossuth is located in Anderson County
    • Tucker
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
      • Tucker is located in Anderson County
    • Long Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
      • Long Lake is located in Anderson County
    • Jarvis
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jarvis
      • Jarvis is located in Anderson County
  • Cherokee County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hays Spring, with the one closest to Hays Spring listed first.
    • Weeping Mary
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weeping Mary
      • Weeping Mary is located in Cherokee County
    • Maydelle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maydelle have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maydelle
      • Maydelle is located in Cherokee County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maydelle <2>
    • Alto
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alto have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alto
      • Alto is located in Cherokee County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,239 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alto <2>
    • Forest
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest
      • Forest is located in Cherokee County
  • Freestone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hays Spring, with the one closest to Hays Spring listed first.
    • Oakwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
      • Oakwood is located in Freestone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 514 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakwood <2>
    • Red Lake
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Red Lake
      • Red Lake is located in Freestone County
  • Leon County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hays Spring, with the one closest to Hays Spring listed first.
    • Russell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
      • Russell is located in Leon County
    • Centerview
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Centerview
      • Centerview is located in Leon County
    • Middleton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Middleton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middleton
      • Middleton is located in Leon County
    • Centerville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Hays Spring, with the one closest to Hays Spring listed first.
    • Pennington
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pennington have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pennington
      • Pennington is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Pennington <2>
    • Center Point ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center Point have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center Point
      • Center Point is located in Trinity County
    • Friday
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friday
      • Friday is located in Trinity County

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

Newspapers Published in Hays Spring ...

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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Hays Spring.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Hays Spring, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Hays Spring.

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 Hays Spring:

Cemeteries Near Hays Spring ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Hays Spring.

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

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

  • Hayes Spring Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • The Hayes Spring Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Haynes Spring Cemetery
    • Hays Spring Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hayes Spring Cemetery
  • Ferrell Women Graves
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ferrell Women Graves have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ferrell Women Graves
  • Golden Gate Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Walling Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Walling Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Walling Cemetery
  • New Salem Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Salem Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Salem Cemetery
  • Parker Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Parker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Parker Cemetery
  • Sheridan Graves
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sheridan Graves have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sheridan Graves
  • Pennington Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pennington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pennington Cemetery
  • Lynwood Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lynwood Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lynwood Cemetery
  • Murdock Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murdock Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murdock Cemetery
  • Mt. Zion Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Zion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Zion Cemetery
  • Meriwether Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Meriwether Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Meriwether Cemetery
  • Continue List   (247 more) ...
    • McCann Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McCann Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McCann Cemetery
    • Milligan Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Davidson Cemetery
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Davidson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Davidson Cemetery

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 Spring in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Hays Spring.

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

  • Grapeland
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • San Pedro
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for San Pedro have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for San Pedro
    • San Pedro is located in Houston County
  • Elkhart
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
  • Crockett
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Crockett have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crockett
    • Crockett is located in Houston County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,350 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Crockett <2>
  • Augusta
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Augusta have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Augusta
    • Augusta is located in Houston County
  • Belott
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belott
    • Belott is located in Houston County
  • Porter Springs
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Springs
    • Porter Springs is located in Houston County
  • Cronin
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cronin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cronin
    • Cronin is located in Anderson County
  • Alderbranch
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alderbranch have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alderbranch
    • Alderbranch is located in Anderson County
  • Weches
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Weches have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weches
    • Weches is located in Houston County
  • Tucker
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tucker
    • Tucker is located in Anderson County
  • Russell
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russell
    • Russell is located in Leon County
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Long Lake
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Long Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Long Lake
      • Long Lake is located in Anderson County
    • Palestine
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Oakwood
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oakwood have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oakwood
      • Oakwood is located in Freestone County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 514 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Oakwood <2>

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Hays Spring. 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Hays Spring) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Hays Spring. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.4707, Longitude: -95.5319       In this case, the coordinates for Hays Spring 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 Spring, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024