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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 Itasca (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 Itasca. 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 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.

Itasca is located in Hill 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 Hill County: Bosque, Ellis, Johnson, Limestone, McLennan & Navarro.

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

  • Hill County     (The home county of Itasca)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Itasca, with the one closest to Itasca listed first.
    • Lovelace
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
    • Covington
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Covington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covington
      • Covington is located in Hill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Covington <2>
    • Carl's Corner
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carl's Corner have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carl's Corner
      • Carl's Corner is located in Hill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 199 people
    • Hillsboro
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Peoria
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Brandon
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brandon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandon
      • Brandon is located in Hill County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brandon <2>
    • Huron ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huron have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huron
      • Huron is located in Hill County
    • Blum
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blum have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blum
      • Blum is located in Hill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 476 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blum <2>
    • Chatt
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Bynum
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bynum have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
      • Bynum is located in Hill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bynum <2>
    • Mertens
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Whitney
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Abbott
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Bosque County
  • Dallas County
  • Ellis County
  • Johnson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Itasca, with the one closest to Itasca listed first.
    • Grandview
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
      • Grandview is located in Johnson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,817 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grandview <2>
    • Parker
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Cuba
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cuba. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
      • Cuba is located in Johnson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Cuba
      • From Itasca to Cuba
    • Rio Vista
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Coyote Flats
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Alvarado
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alvarado have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alvarado
      • Alvarado is located in Johnson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,624 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Alvarado <2>
    • Cleburne
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Keene
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Keene have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
      • Keene is located in Johnson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,588 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keene <2>
    • Egan
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Egan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egan
      • Egan is located in Johnson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Egan
      • From Itasca to Egan
    • Bono
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bono. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bono
      • Bono is located in Johnson County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Bono
      • From Itasca to Bono
    • Lillian
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lillian have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lillian
      • Lillian is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lillian <2>
    • Joshua
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joshua have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joshua
      • Joshua is located in Johnson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,202 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Joshua <2>
    • Briaroaks
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Briaroaks have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briaroaks
      • Briaroaks is located in Johnson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
  • McLennan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Itasca, with the one closest to Itasca listed first.
    • West
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for West have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West
      • West is located in McLennan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,969 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for West <2>
    • Tours
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
    • Ross
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ross have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ross
      • Ross is located in McLennan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 272 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ross <2>
    • Leroy
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Leroy have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leroy
      • Leroy is located in McLennan County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 346 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Leroy <2>
  • Navarro County
  • Somervell County
    • Nemo
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nemo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nemo
      • Nemo is located in Somervell County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nemo <2>
  • Tarrant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Itasca, with the one closest to Itasca listed first.
    • Retta
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Retta have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Retta
      • Retta is located in Tarrant County
    • Rendon
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
    • Oak Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oak Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
      • Oak Grove is located in Tarrant County

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

Cemeteries Near Itasca ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Itasca.

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Itasca had a population of 548 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Itasca had a population of 1,783 people.

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

  • Osceola
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Osceola have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
    • Osceola is located in Hill County
  • Covington
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Covington have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Covington
    • Covington is located in Hill County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 283 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Covington <2>
  • Grandview
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grandview have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grandview
    • Grandview is located in Johnson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,817 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Grandview <2>
  • Woodbury
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Woodbury have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodbury
    • Woodbury is located in Hill County
  • Blanton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blanton have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blanton
    • Blanton is located in Hill County
  • Hillsboro
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Auburn
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Derden
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Derden have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derden
    • Derden is located in Hill County
  • Milford
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Cuba
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Cuba. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuba
    • Cuba is located in Johnson County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Cuba
    • From Itasca to Cuba
  • Peoria
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Brandon
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brandon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brandon
    • Brandon is located in Hill County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brandon <2>
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Rio Vista
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Blum
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blum have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blum
      • Blum is located in Hill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 476 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blum <2>
    • Bynum
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bynum have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bynum
      • Bynum is located in Hill County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 208 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bynum <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Itasca ...

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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Itasca.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Itasca. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Itasca and those printed in the larger area surrounding Itasca.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Itasca.

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 Itasca:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Itasca) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Itasca. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.1593, Longitude: -97.1478    
<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 Itasca, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025