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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 Holly Grove (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 Holly Grove. 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 Holly Grove ...

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.

Another variation: Hollygrove.

  • A typical abbreviation for Holly Grove: Holly Grv.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Holly Grove. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Holly Grove.

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.

Holly Grove is located in Polk 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 Polk County: Angelina, Hardin, Liberty, San Jacinto, Trinity & Tyler.

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

  • Polk County     (The home county of Holly Grove)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holly Grove, with the one closest to Holly Grove listed first.
    • Oak Shade
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Oak Shade is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Shade
    • Ace
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Dallardsville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Schwab City
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Schwab City is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Schwab City
    • Indian Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Indian Springs is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Springs
    • Goodrich
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Lamont
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Lamont is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamont
    • Livingston
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Swartout ‑ Historic
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Swartout is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swartout
    • New Willard
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • New Willard is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Willard
    • West Livingston
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • West Livingston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Livingston
    • Leggett
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Seven Oaks
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Seven Oaks is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Oaks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
  • Hardin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holly Grove, with the one closest to Holly Grove listed first.
    • Votaw
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Thicket
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bragg ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Bragg is located in Hardin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bragg
    • Village Mills
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Batson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Saratoga
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Kountze
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Liberty County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holly Grove, with the one closest to Holly Grove listed first.
    • Big Thicket Creekmore Village
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Fuqua ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
      • Fuqua is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuqua
    • Rye
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Romayor
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Africa ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
      • Africa is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Africa
    • Rayburn
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Rayburn is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rayburn
    • Coushatta Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Coushatta Village is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coushatta Village
    • Mariam
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Mariam is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mariam
    • Hardin
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Hull
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Cleveland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • North Cleveland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • North Cleveland is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cleveland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
    • Dayton Lakes
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Dayton Lakes is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dayton Lakes
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 107 people
  • San Jacinto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holly Grove, with the one closest to Holly Grove listed first.
    • Shepherd
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Coldspring
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Magnolia
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Magnolia is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
    • Laurel Hill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Laurel Hill is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hill
  • Tyler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Holly Grove, with the one closest to Holly Grove listed first.
    • Warren
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Ivanhoe North
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Ivanhoe North is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe North
      • Population from the 2010 Census: 538 people
    • Hillister
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ivanhoe
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Ivanhoe is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ivanhoe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,438 people
    • Woodville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Doucette
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Chester
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Peach Tree Village
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Peach Tree Village is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Peach Tree Village

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

Cemeteries Near Holly Grove ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Holly Grove.

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 Holly Grove - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Davis Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Hank Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • McNulty Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Fields Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Lake Station Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Felps Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Griffin Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Camp Ruby Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
  • Coley Creek Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Sutton Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Bluff Creek Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Peebles Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (93 more) ...
    • Fellowship Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Midway Cemetery
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Restland Memorial Cemetery
      (16 miles [25.7 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.<4>

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

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

  • Dallardsville
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Goodrich
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Shepherd
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Village Mills
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Hyatt
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Hyatt is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hyatt
  • Warren
    (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
  • Livingston
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Saratoga
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Hillister
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Keno
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Keno is located in Liberty County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keno
  • Leggett
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Hortense
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Hortense is located in Polk County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hortense
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Seven Oaks
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Seven Oaks is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seven Oaks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 131 people
    • Woodville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Cleveland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Holly Grove ...

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 27 newspapers that have been published in the area around Holly Grove.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Holly Grove, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Holly Grove.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with 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 Holly Grove:

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 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.
<3>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- Holly Grove) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Holly Grove, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.