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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 Shore (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 Shore. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Lake Shore 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 Shore. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Lake Shore:

  • Brown County     (The home county of Lake Shore)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Shore, with the one closest to Lake Shore listed first.
    • Lake Brownwood
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Lake Brownwood is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Brownwood
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
      • Fry is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
    • Bangs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Brownwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Early
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Ricker ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Ricker is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
    • Cross Cut
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
      • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
    • May
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Blanket
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Brookesmith
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Zephyr
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • 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
  • Callahan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Shore, with the one closest to Lake Shore listed first.
    • Cross Plains
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Cottonwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Rowden
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Rowden is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowden
  • Coleman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Shore, with the one closest to Lake Shore listed first.
    • Burkett
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Santa Anna
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Trickham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Trickham is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
      • Former name for Trickham:
      • Trick'em
    • Coleman
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Whon ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Whon is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whon
    • Valera
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Rockwood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Gouldbusk
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Shore, with the one closest to Lake Shore listed first.
    • Sidney
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Sipe Springs
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
    • Comanche
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Duster
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Duster is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
  • Eastland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Lake Shore, with the one closest to Lake Shore listed first.
    • Rising Star
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Okra
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • 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
      (27 miles [43.5 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 Shore, with the one closest to Lake Shore listed first.
    • Ebony ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Ebony is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebony
    • Buffalo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Buffalo is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
    • Ridge
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Ridge is located in Mills County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge

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

Cemeteries Near Lake Shore ...

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

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 Shore - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Macedonia Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Panther Creek Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • McDaniel Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Mud Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Roberts Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Salem Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Clear Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Mukewater Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Staley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Greenleaf Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (71 more) ...
    • Lost Creek Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jones Chapel Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Heflin Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)

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

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

  • Thrifty
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Thrifty is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thrifty
  • Bangs
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Brownwood
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Ricker ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Ricker is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
  • Burkett
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Santa Anna
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • May
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Cross Cut
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
  • Blanket
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Trickham
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Trickham is located in Coleman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
    • Former name for Trickham:
    • Trick'em
  • Rising Star
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Pioneer
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Pioneer is located in Eastland County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Coleman
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Cross Plains
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Zephyr
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Lake Shore ...

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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Lake Shore.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Lake Shore, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Lake Shore.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Shore:

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 Shore, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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 Shore) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.