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The Commemorative Quarter for Texas





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 Memphis (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 Memphis. 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 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.

Memphis is located in Hall 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 Hall County: Briscoe, Childress, Collingsworth, Cottle, Donley & Motley.

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

  • Hall County     (The home county of Memphis)
  • Childress County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Memphis, with the one closest to Memphis listed first.
    • Carey
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Loco ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loco have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loco
      • Loco is located in Childress County
    • Arlie
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arlie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlie
      • Arlie is located in Childress County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Arlie
      • From Memphis to Arlie
    • Tell
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
    • Childress
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Collingsworth County
  • Donley County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Memphis, with the one closest to Memphis listed first.
    • Hedley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hedley have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hedley
      • Hedley is located in Donley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 291 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hedley <2>
    • Lelia Lake
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lelia Lake have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lelia Lake
      • Lelia Lake is located in Donley County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lelia Lake <2>
    • Clarendon
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarendon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarendon
      • Clarendon is located in Donley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,788 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarendon <2>
    • Howardwick
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Howardwick have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howardwick
      • Howardwick is located in Donley County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 398 people

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

Cemeteries Near Memphis ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Memphis.

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

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

  • Newlin Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Newlin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Newlin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Rowe Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rowe Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rowe Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hulver Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hulver Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hulver Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Estelline Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Estelline Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Estelline Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hutchins Family Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Quail Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Liberty Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Wellington Cemetery
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Wellington Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Wellington Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Carey Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Loco Cemetery
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
  • Citizens Cemetery
    (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Citizens Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Citizens Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (11 more) ...
    • Odd Fellows Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Odd Fellows Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Odd Fellows Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • St. Marys Cemetery
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the St. Marys Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the St. Marys Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Plymouth Cemetery
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Plymouth Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Plymouth 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.<6>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Memphis had a population of 800 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Memphis had a population of 1,996 people.

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

  • Giles
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Giles have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Giles
    • Giles is located in Donley County
  • Lakeview
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Newlin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Hulver
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hulver. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hulver
    • Hulver is located in Hall County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hulver
    • From Memphis to Hulver
  • Wellington
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Carey
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Fresno
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fresno have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fresno
    • Fresno is located in Collingsworth County
  • Clarendon
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Clarendon have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clarendon
    • Clarendon is located in Donley County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,788 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Clarendon <2>
  • Arlie
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Arlie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Arlie
    • Arlie is located in Childress County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Arlie
    • From Memphis to Arlie
  • Childress
    (28 miles [45.1 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 Memphis. See our List of 1890's Communities around Memphis.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Memphis ...

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 32 newspapers that have been published in the area around Memphis.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

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 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 Memphis:

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

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>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- Memphis) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Memphis. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 34.7263, Longitude: -100.5421    
<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 Memphis, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025