Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
So far, we found very little information about Mena. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Mena to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Mena, please Contact Us.
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 Mena (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 Mena. 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 and hospitals 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.
Although our information shows that the community of Mena is historic, it would have been located within present day Red River 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 Red River County: Choctaw (OK), McCurtain (OK), Bowie, Delta, Franklin, Lamar, Morris & Titus.
Below are the counties that are near Mena. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Mena:
- Red River County (The home county of Mena)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mena, with the one closest to Mena listed first.
- Annona
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- English
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- English is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English
- Boxelder
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Boxelder is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boxelder
- Avery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Clarksville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Cuthand
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cuthand is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuthand
- Sherry
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
- Sherry is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sherry
- Acworth
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
- Acworth is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Acworth
- Greenwood
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Greenwood is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
- Bagwell
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Bogata
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Liberty
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Liberty is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Liberty
- Albion
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Albion is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Bowie County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mena, with the one closest to Mena listed first.
- De Kalb
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Dalby Springs
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dalby Springs is located in Bowie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalby Springs
- Bassett
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Bassett is located in Bowie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bassett
- Simms
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- New Boston
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
- Boston
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Boston is located in Bowie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boston
- Franklin County
- Hagansport
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hagansport is located in Franklin County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hagansport
- Lamar County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mena, with the one closest to Mena listed first.
- Deport
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- Pin Hook
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
- Pin Hook is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pin Hook
- Cunningham
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Blossom
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Pattonville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Clardy
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Clardy is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clardy
- Sylvan
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
- Sylvan is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvan
- Novice
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Novice is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Novice
- Sun Valley
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
- Sun Valley is located in Lamar County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 80 people
- Morris County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mena, with the one closest to Mena listed first.
- Omaha
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Naples
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Naples is located in Morris County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Naples
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,305 people
- Former name for Naples:
- Station Belden
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Naples <2>
- Titus County
- The following are listed by their distance from Mena, with the one closest to Mena listed first.
- Talco
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- Green Hill
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Green Hill is located in Titus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Green Hill
- Cookville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Mount Pleasant
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
- Winfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- McCurtain County (OK)
- The following are listed by their distance from Mena, with the one closest to Mena listed first.
- Idabel
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
- Idabel is located in McCurtain County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idabel
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,876 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Idabel <2>
- Haworth
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- Garvin
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Holly Creek
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Holly Creek is located in McCurtain County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly Creek
- Millerton
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Valliant
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Mena, see our County-by-County Page for Mena.
Cemeteries Near Mena ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mena.
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 Mena - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Mena covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Mena, with the one closest to Mena listed first.
- Garland Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
- Warthan Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- Savannah Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Holder Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the east)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Honeycutt Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Nevill Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Whitemans Chapel Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Free Hope Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Shiloh Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Hebron Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Henrietta Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Henrietta Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Henrietta Cemetery is located 5 miles [8 km]<3> to the north of Avery.
- The Henrietta Cemetery has also been known as:
- Warren Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2305338 <4>
- Continue List (133 more) ...
- Haywood Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Fogelman Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Rehobeth Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 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.
While we didn't find Mena in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Mena.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Mena, with the one closest to Mena listed first.
- Annona
(Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
- English
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- English is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for English
- Madras
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Madras is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Madras
- Clarksville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Cuthand
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Cuthand is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cuthand
- Lydia
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- Lydia is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lydia
- Oak Grove
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Oak Grove is located in Bowie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Grove
- Bagwell
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Rosalie
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Rosalie is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosalie
- Wilkinson
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Wilkinson is located in Titus County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilkinson
- Bogata
(18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
- De Kalb
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Continue List (14 more) ...
- Fulbright
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
- Fulbright is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fulbright
- Albion
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
- Albion is located in Red River County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Albion
- Dalby Springs
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Dalby Springs is located in Bowie County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dalby Springs
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Mena. See our List of 1890's Communities around Mena.
Newspapers Published in Mena ...
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 62 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mena.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Mena, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Mena.
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 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 Mena:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Red River County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bowie County
- Franklin County
- Lamar County
- Morris County
- Titus County
- McCurtain County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
Footnotes ...
| <1> | 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 Mena, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | 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- Mena) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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. |