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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 Matador (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 Matador. 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 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.

Matador is located in Motley County and is the County Seat.

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 Motley County: Briscoe, Cottle, Crosby, Dickens, Floyd, Hall & King.

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

  • Motley County     (The home county of Matador)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Matador, with the one closest to Matador listed first.
    • Roaring Springs
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roaring Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roaring Springs
      • Roaring Springs is located in Motley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 228 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roaring Springs <2>
    • Russellville ‑ Historic
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Russellville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Russellville
      • Russellville is located in Motley County
    • Flomot
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flomot have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flomot
      • Flomot is located in Motley County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flomot <2>
  • Briscoe County
    • Quitaque
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Cottle County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Matador, with the one closest to Matador listed first.
    • Narcisso
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Narcisso
      • Narcisso is located in Cottle County
    • Cee Vee
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cee Vee have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cee Vee
      • Cee Vee is located in Cottle County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cee Vee <2>
    • Paducah
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paducah have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paducah
      • Paducah is located in Cottle County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,064 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paducah <2>
  • Crosby County
    • Mount Blanco ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Blanco
      • Mount Blanco is located in Crosby County
  • Dickens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Matador, with the one closest to Matador listed first.
    • Afton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • McAdoo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McAdoo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McAdoo
      • McAdoo is located in Dickens County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for McAdoo <2>
    • Dickens
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
  • Floyd County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Matador, with the one closest to Matador listed first.
    • Dougherty
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Cedar Hill
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cedar Hill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Hill
      • Cedar Hill is located in Floyd County
    • Gray Mule ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gray Mule have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Mule
      • Gray Mule is located in Floyd County
    • Della Plain ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Della Plain. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Della Plain
      • Della Plain is located in Floyd County
    • Floydada
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Floydada have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floydada
      • Floydada is located in Floyd County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,654 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Floydada <2>
  • Hall County
    • Turkey
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • King County
    • Dumont
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dumont have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dumont
      • Dumont is located in King County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dumont <2>

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Matador ...

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 13 newspapers that have been published in the area around Matador.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Matador. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Matador and those printed in the larger area surrounding Matador.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4> of Matador.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start 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 Matador:

Cemeteries Near Matador ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Matador.

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

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

  • East Mound Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the East Mound Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the East Mound Cemetery
  • Roaring Springs Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Roaring Springs Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roaring Springs Cemetery
  • Whiteflat Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whiteflat Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whiteflat Cemetery
  • Scott Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Scott Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Scott Cemetery
  • Afton Cemetery
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Afton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Afton Cemetery
  • Antelope Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Antelope Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Antelope Cemetery
  • Keeter Graves
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Keeter Graves have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Keeter Graves
  • Amity Cemetery
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Amity Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Amity Cemetery
  • McAdoo Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McAdoo Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McAdoo Cemetery
  • Dumont Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dumont Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dumont Cemetery
  • Rushing Chapel Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rushing Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rushing Chapel Cemetery
  • Gray Mule Cemetery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gray Mule Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gray Mule Cemetery
  • Continue List   (9 more) ...
    • Dreamland Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dreamland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dreamland Cemetery
    • Lakeview Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lakeview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lakeview Cemetery
    • Buck Creek Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Matador had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Matador had a population of 605 people.

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

  • Mount Blanco ‑ Historic
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Blanco
    • Mount Blanco is located in Crosby County
  • Della Plain ‑ Historic
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Della Plain. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Della Plain
    • Della Plain is located in Floyd County
  • Paducah
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paducah have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paducah
    • Paducah is located in Cottle County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,064 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paducah <2>
  • Floydada
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Floydada have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Floydada
    • Floydada is located in Floyd County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,654 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Floydada <2>

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

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Matador. 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Matador) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Matador. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.0151, Longitude: -100.8211       In this case, the coordinates for Matador have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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 Matador, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024