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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 Martinsville (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 Martinsville. 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.

Martinsville is located in Nacogdoches 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 Nacogdoches County: Angelina, Cherokee, Rusk, San Augustine & Shelby.

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

  • Nacogdoches County     (The home county of Martinsville)
  • Angelina County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Martinsville, with the one closest to Martinsville listed first.
    • Ewing
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ewing. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ewing
      • Ewing is located in Angelina County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ewing
      • From Martinsville to Ewing
    • Thomas Crossing
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Thomas Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Crossing
      • Thomas Crossing is located in Angelina County
    • Platt
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Platt have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Platt
      • Platt is located in Angelina County
    • River Crest Estates
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Moffitt
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Moffitt have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffitt
      • Moffitt is located in Angelina County
    • Alco
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Alco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alco
      • Alco is located in Angelina County
    • Dunagan
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Dunagan. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunagan
      • Dunagan is located in Angelina County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Dunagan
      • From Martinsville to Dunagan
    • Davisville
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Davisville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Davisville
      • Davisville is located in Angelina County
    • Redland
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Rocky Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
    • Ora
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ora. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ora
      • Ora is located in Angelina County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ora
      • From Martinsville to Ora
    • Cedar Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Grove have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
      • Cedar Grove is located in Angelina County
    • Herty
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Panola County
  • Rusk County
  • Sabine County
  • San Augustine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Martinsville, with the one closest to Martinsville listed first.
    • Denning
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • San Augustine
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Maxey Town
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maxey Town have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maxey Town
      • Maxey Town is located in San Augustine County
    • Broaddus
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Broaddus have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Broaddus
      • Broaddus is located in San Augustine County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 201 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Broaddus <2>
    • Rebecca
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Zana ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Zana. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zana
      • Zana is located in San Augustine County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Zana
      • From Martinsville to Zana
    • White City
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for White City have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White City
      • White City is located in San Augustine County
  • Shelby County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Martinsville, with the one closest to Martinsville listed first.
    • Arcadia
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Short
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Short. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Short
      • Short is located in Shelby County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Short
      • From Martinsville to Short
    • Choice
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Center
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Timpson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Timpson have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Timpson
      • Timpson is located in Shelby County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,130 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Timpson <2>
    • Africa ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Africa. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Africa
      • Africa is located in Shelby County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Africa
      • From Martinsville to Africa
    • Shelbyville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelbyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelbyville
      • Shelbyville is located in Shelby County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shelbyville <2>
    • Tenaha
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
    • Campti
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Joaquin
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joaquin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joaquin
      • Joaquin is located in Shelby County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 793 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Joaquin <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Martinsville ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Martinsville.

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

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

  • Pilgrim Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pilgrim Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pilgrim Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Holmes Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Holmes Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Holmes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Sardis Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Sardis Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Sardis Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Moss Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moss Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moss Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Spring Ridge Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Ridge Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Ridge Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Lucas Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lucas Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lucas Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Powdrill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Powdrill Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Powdrill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Mast Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mast Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mast Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gethsemane Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gethsemane Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gethsemane Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Cold Springs Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Galilee Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Galilee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Galilee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (251 more) ...
    • Moroney Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Moroney Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Moroney Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Nicholson Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nicholson Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Nicholson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Post Oak Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Post Oak Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Post Oak Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Martinsville had a population of 46 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service.

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

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

Newspapers Published in Martinsville ...

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 64 newspapers that have been published in the area around Martinsville.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Martinsville, there are papers which were published within 27 miles [43.5 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Martinsville.

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 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 Martinsville:

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

The official website for Nacogdoches County: www.co.nacogdoches.tx.us/

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<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>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.
<5>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 Martinsville, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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- Martinsville) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Martinsville. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6428, Longitude: -94.4144    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025