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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 Lake Brownwood (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 Lake Brownwood. 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 Lake Brownwood ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Lake Brownwood: Lk. Brownwood

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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Lake Brownwood is located in Brown 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 Brown County: Callahan, Coleman, Comanche, Eastland, McCulloch, Mills & San Saba.

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

  • Brown County     (The home county of Lake Brownwood)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Brownwood, with the one closest to Lake Brownwood listed first.
    • Early
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Brownwood
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Ricker ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Ricker is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
    • Bangs
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Fry is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
    • May
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Blanket
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Cross Cut
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
    • Zephyr
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Brookesmith
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Indian Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
    • Keys Crossing
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Keys Crossing is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Crossing
  • Callahan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Brownwood, with the one closest to Lake Brownwood listed first.
    • Cross Plains
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cottonwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
  • Coleman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Brownwood, with the one closest to Lake Brownwood listed first.
    • Burkett
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Santa Anna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Trickham
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Trickham is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
      • Former name for Trickham:
      • Trick'em
    • Coleman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Whon ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Whon is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whon
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Brownwood, with the one closest to Lake Brownwood listed first.
    • Sidney
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Sipe Springs
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
    • Comanche
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Duster
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Duster is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
    • Newburg
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Newburg is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newburg
  • Eastland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Brownwood, with the one closest to Lake Brownwood listed first.
    • Rising Star
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Okra
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Okra is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Okra
    • Nimrod ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Nimrod is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
  • McCulloch County
    • Milburn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Milburn is located in McCulloch County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
  • Mills County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Brownwood, with the one closest to Lake Brownwood listed first.
    • Ebony ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Ebony is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebony
    • Buffalo
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Buffalo is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
    • Mullin
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Ridge
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Ridge is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
    • Regency ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Regency is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Brownwood ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Lake Brownwood.

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 Lake Brownwood - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Roberts Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Staley Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Heflin Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Jones Chapel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Routh Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Lost Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • McDaniel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Eastlawn Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Panther Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Greenleaf Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (80 more) ...
    • Clear Creek Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Connell Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jenkins Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)

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.<3>

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

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

  • Thrifty
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Thrifty is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thrifty
  • Brownwood
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Bangs
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Ricker ‑ Historic
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Ricker is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
  • May
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Blanket
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Cross Cut
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
  • Zephyr
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Burkett
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Sidney
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Rising Star
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Santa Anna
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Pioneer
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Pioneer is located in Eastland County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
    • Trickham
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Trickham is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
      • Former name for Trickham:
      • Trick'em
    • Indian Creek
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
      • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek

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

Newspapers Published in Lake Brownwood ...

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 20 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Brownwood.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake Brownwood, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake Brownwood.

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 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 Lake Brownwood:

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>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 Lake Brownwood, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Lake Brownwood) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.