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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 Oak Trail Shores (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 Oak Trail Shores. 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 Oak Trail Shores ...

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 Oak Trail Shores: Oak Trail Shrs.

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 northwest 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 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 west 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.

Oak Trail Shores is located in Hood 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 Hood County: Erath, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker & Somervell.

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

  • Hood County     (The home county of Oak Trail Shores)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Trail Shores, with the one closest to Oak Trail Shores listed first.
    • Brazos Bend
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Brazos Bend is located in Hood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos Bend
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 364 people
    • Granbury
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Acton
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Tolar
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • DeCordova
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
      • DeCordova is located in Hood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeCordova
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,108 people
    • Cresson
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Hill City
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
      • Hill City is located in Hood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
    • Pecan Plantation
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Pecan Plantation is located in Hood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pecan Plantation
    • Lipan
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Paluxy
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
    • Fort Spunky
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Fort Spunky is located in Hood County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Spunky
  • Bosque County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Trail Shores, with the one closest to Oak Trail Shores listed first.
    • Eulogy
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Eulogy is located in Bosque County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eulogy
    • Walnut Springs
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
  • Erath County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Trail Shores, with the one closest to Oak Trail Shores listed first.
    • Bluff Dale
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Morgan Mill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Chalk Mountain
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Chalk Mountain is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chalk Mountain
    • Stephenville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Duffau
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Duffau is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duffau
    • Hannibal
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Hannibal is located in Erath County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
  • Johnson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Trail Shores, with the one closest to Oak Trail Shores listed first.
    • Godley
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Bono
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Bono is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bono
    • Joshua
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Cleburne
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Crowley
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Burleson
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Cross Timber
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Cross Timber is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Timber
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
    • Briaroaks
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Briaroaks is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Briaroaks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 506 people
    • Keene
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Keene is located in Johnson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keene
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,588 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Keene <1>
  • Palo Pinto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Trail Shores, with the one closest to Oak Trail Shores listed first.
    • Brazos
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Brazos is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos
    • Santo
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Mineral Wells
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Wolters Village
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Wolters Village is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolters Village
  • Parker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Trail Shores, with the one closest to Oak Trail Shores listed first.
    • Dennis
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Brock
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Brock is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock
    • Annetta South
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Annetta South is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annetta South
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 579 people
    • Annetta
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Annetta is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annetta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,319 people
    • Greenwood
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Greenwood is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Weatherford
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Annetta North
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Annetta North is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annetta North
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 583 people
    • Aledo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Hudson Oaks
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Millsap
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Willow Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lemley
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Lemley is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemley
  • Somervell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Trail Shores, with the one closest to Oak Trail Shores listed first.
    • Rainbow
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Glen Rose
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Nemo
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Glass
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Glass is located in Somervell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glass
  • Tarrant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oak Trail Shores, with the one closest to Oak Trail Shores listed first.
    • Saint Francis Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Primrose
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Primrose is located in Tarrant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Primrose
    • Benbrook
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • White Settlement
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Wedgewood East
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Wedgewood East is located in Tarrant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wedgewood East
    • Edgecliff Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Edgecliff Village is located in Tarrant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgecliff Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,012 people
    • Lakeside
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Lakeside is located in Tarrant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,586 people
    • Westover Hills
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Westover Hills is located in Tarrant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westover Hills
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 679 people
    • Westworth Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Westworth Village is located in Tarrant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westworth Village
    • Westworth Village
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)

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

Cemeteries Near Oak Trail Shores ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oak Trail Shores.

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 Oak Trail Shores - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Thorp Spring Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Herring Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Granbury Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Brushy Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Long Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Strouds Creek Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Powell Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Buckner Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
  • Smith Valley Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Horsehoe Bend Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Antioch Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Continue List   (146 more) ...
    • Tolar Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Holder Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)

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>

While we didn't find Oak Trail Shores in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Oak Trail Shores.

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

  • Thorp Spring
    (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
    • Thorp Spring is located in Hood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thorp Spring
  • Granbury
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Tolar
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Acton
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Buckner
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Buckner is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckner
  • Chapin
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Chapin is located in Hood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chapin
  • Cresson
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Lipan
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
  • Bluff Dale
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Brock
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Brock is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock
  • Paluxy
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Fort Spunky
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Fort Spunky is located in Hood County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Spunky
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Georges Creek
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Georges Creek is located in Somervell County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Georges Creek
    • Annetta
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Annetta is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Annetta
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,319 people
    • Earls
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Earls is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Earls

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

Newspapers Published in Oak Trail Shores ...

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 56 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oak Trail Shores.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oak Trail Shores, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oak Trail Shores.

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 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 Oak Trail Shores:

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 Oak Trail Shores, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Oak Trail Shores) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.