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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 Oakland (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 Oakland. 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 northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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.

Oakland is located in Jack 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 Jack County: Archer, Clay, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Wise & Young.

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

  • Jack County     (The home county of Oakland)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • Antelope
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
      • Antelope is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antelope
    • Postoak
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Postoak is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postoak
    • Jermyn
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Jacksboro
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Bob Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
      • Bob Town is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bob Town
    • Bryson
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Wizard Wells
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Wizard Wells is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wizard Wells
    • Perrin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Archer County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • Windthorst
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Scotland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Archer City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Anarene ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
      • Anarene is located in Archer County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Anarene
  • Clay County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • Shannon
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Shannon is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shannon
    • Joy
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Joy is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy
    • Newport
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Newport is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
    • Bluegrove
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Bellevue
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Henrietta
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Jolly
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Jolly is located in Clay County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
  • Montague County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • Bowie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Bowie is located in Montague County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,140 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bowie <1>
    • Fruitland
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Fruitland is located in Montague County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fruitland
    • Sunset
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
  • Wise County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • Park Springs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Park Springs is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Park Springs
    • Chico
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Runaway Bay
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Lake Bridgeport
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Lake Bridgeport is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Bridgeport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 405 people
  • Young County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oakland, with the one closest to Oakland listed first.
    • Loving
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Farmer
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Farmer is located in Young County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
    • Graham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Olney
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
    • Newcastle
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Oakland ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oakland.

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 Oakland - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Roberts Branch Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Shannon Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Antelope Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Silver Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Prospect Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Graves Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Postoak Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Markley Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Brown Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Round Mountain Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Patton Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Pleasant Valley Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Continue List   (68 more) ...
    • Burton Springs Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Graceland Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Winn Hill Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winn Hill Cemetery
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Winn Hill Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 5 miles [8 km]<3> to the northeast of Bryson.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7703 <2>

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.<4>

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

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

  • Antelope
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Antelope is located in Jack County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antelope
  • Postoak
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Postoak is located in Jack County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Postoak
  • Markley
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Markley is located in Young County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Markley
  • Jacksboro
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Farmer
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Farmer is located in Young County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farmer
  • Newport
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Newport is located in Clay County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newport
  • Bluegrove
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Bryson
    (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
  • Bellevue
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Crafton
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Crafton is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crafton
  • Archer City
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Vineyard
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Vineyard is located in Jack County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyard
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Graham
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Bowie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Bowie is located in Montague County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bowie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,140 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bowie <1>
    • Olney
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

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

Newspapers Published in Oakland ...

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 40 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oakland.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oakland, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Oakland.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin 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 Oakland:

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>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 from Point A (ie- Oakland) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<4>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 Oakland, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.