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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 Mineral Wells (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 Mineral Wells. 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.

Name Variations for Mineral Wells ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Mineral Wells: Mineral Wls.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Mineral Wells. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Mineral Wells.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.

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 north 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.

Mineral Wells is primarily located in Palo Pinto County. A portion of Mineral Wells extends into Parker 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 Palo Pinto County: Eastland, Erath, Hood, Jack, Parker, Stephens & Young.

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

  • Palo Pinto County     (The home county of Mineral Wells)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mineral Wells, with the one closest to Mineral Wells listed first.
    • Wolters Village
      (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
      • Wolters Village is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolters Village
    • Salesville
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Salesville is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salesville
    • Brazos
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
      • Brazos is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos
    • Graford
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Palo Pinto
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Santo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Gordon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
    • Mingus
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Strawn
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Erath County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mineral Wells, with the one closest to Mineral Wells listed first.
    • Thurber
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Morgan Mill
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Hood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mineral Wells, with the one closest to Mineral Wells listed first.
    • Lipan
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
    • Oak Trail Shores
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Oak Trail Shores is located in Hood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Trail Shores
    • Brazos Bend
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Brazos Bend is located in Hood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos Bend
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Tolar
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
    • Granbury
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jack County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mineral Wells, with the one closest to Mineral Wells listed first.
    • Perrin
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
    • Gibtown
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Gibtown is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibtown
    • Westbrook
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Westbrook is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook
    • Wizard Wells
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Wizard Wells is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wizard Wells
    • Jacksboro
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Bob Town
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Bob Town is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bob Town
    • Bryson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Parker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mineral Wells, with the one closest to Mineral Wells listed first.
    • Cool
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Cool is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
    • Millsap
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Authon
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Authon is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Authon
    • Whitt
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Adell
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Adell is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adell
    • Lemley
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Lemley is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemley
    • Peaster
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Brock
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Brock is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock
    • Greenwood
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Greenwood is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Weatherford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Poolville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Dennis
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Wise County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Mineral Wells, with the one closest to Mineral Wells listed first.
    • Boonsville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Boonsville is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsville
    • Runaway Bay
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Bridgeport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake Bridgeport is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Bridgeport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 405 people

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

Cemeteries Near Mineral Wells ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Mineral Wells.

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 Mineral Wells - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Staggs Prairie Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Woodland Park Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
  • Old Millsap Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Pollard Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Ballew Springs Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Willow Pond Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Indian Creek Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Hittson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Dominicar Merlo Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Union Hill Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Locke Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Goen Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (121 more) ...
    • Fondren Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Authon Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Mineral Wells had a population of 577 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Mineral Wells had a population of 15,219 people.

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

  • Garner
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Garner is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
  • Millsap
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Salesville
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Salesville is located in Palo Pinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salesville
  • Authon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Authon is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Authon
  • Brazos
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Brazos is located in Palo Pinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos
  • Adell
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Adell is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adell
  • Whitt
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Oran
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Oran is located in Palo Pinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oran
  • Lemley
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Lemley is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemley
  • Brock
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Brock is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock
  • Peaster
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
  • Palo Pinto
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Santo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Weatherford
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Poolville
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Mineral Wells ...

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 73 newspapers that have been published in the area around Mineral Wells.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

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

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These 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 Mineral Wells:

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 Mineral Wells, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<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- Mineral Wells) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.