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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 Okra (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 Okra. 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 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.

Okra is located in Eastland County.

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 Eastland County: Brown, Callahan, Comanche, Erath, Palo Pinto, Shackelford & Stephens.

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

  • Eastland County     (The home county of Okra)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Okra, with the one closest to Okra listed first.
    • Rising Star
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Carbon
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
      • Carbon is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carbon <1>
    • Mangum ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mangum have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mangum
      • Mangum is located in Eastland County
    • Gorman
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gorman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorman
      • Gorman is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,033 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gorman <1>
    • Kokomo
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kokomo
      • Kokomo is located in Eastland County
    • Nimrod ‑ Historic
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
      • Nimrod is located in Eastland County
    • Cisco
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cisco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
      • Cisco is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,850 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cisco <1>
    • Eastland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Olden
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Desdemona
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Ranger
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ranger have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranger
      • Ranger is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,354 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ranger <1>
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Okra, with the one closest to Okra listed first.
    • May
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for May have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
      • May is located in Brown County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for May <1>
    • Cross Cut
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
      • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
    • Blanket
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Lake Brownwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Brownwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Brownwood
      • Lake Brownwood is located in Brown County
    • Early
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
      • Fry is located in Brown County
    • Brownwood
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownwood have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
      • Brownwood is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,208 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brownwood <1>
  • Callahan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Okra, with the one closest to Okra listed first.
    • Cross Plains
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Cottonwood
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
      • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
    • Putnam
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Rowden
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowden
      • Rowden is located in Callahan County
    • Belle Plain ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belle Plain have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Plain
      • Belle Plain is located in Callahan County
  • Coleman County
  • Comanche County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Okra, with the one closest to Okra listed first.
    • Sipe Springs
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
      • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
    • Sidney
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sidney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
      • Sidney is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sidney <1>
    • Rucker
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rucker
      • Rucker is located in Comanche County
    • De Leon
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
    • Comanche
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Comyn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comyn
      • Comyn is located in Comanche County
    • Proctor
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Proctor have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Proctor
      • Proctor is located in Comanche County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Proctor <1>
  • Erath County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Okra, with the one closest to Okra listed first.
    • Bunyan
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunyan
      • Bunyan is located in Erath County
    • Lingleville
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lingleville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lingleville
      • Lingleville is located in Erath County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lingleville <1>
  • Stephens County
    • Gunsight ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunsight
      • Gunsight is located in Stephens County

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

Newspapers Published in Okra ...

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 Okra.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Okra, there are papers which were published within 25 miles [40.2 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Okra.

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 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 Okra:

Cemeteries Near Okra ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Okra.

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

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

  • Elm Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Brown Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Brown Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Brown Cemetery
  • Center Point Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Center Point Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Center Point Cemetery
  • Rising Star Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Sipe Springs Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Jewel Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jewel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jewel Cemetery
  • Murray Memorial Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Murray Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Murray Memorial Cemetery
  • Wayside Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wayside Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wayside Cemetery
  • Salt Tank Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Pleasant Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Hill Cemetery
  • Parker Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Parker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Parker Cemetery
  • Oakland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Oakland Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Oakland Cemetery
  • Continue List   (85 more) ...
    • Elm Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elm Cemetery
    • Ninevah Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Ninevah Cemetery is located 10 miles [16.1 km]<3> to the east of De Leon.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ninevah Cemetery
    • Pioneer Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)

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.<5>

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

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

  • Rising Star
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Sipe Springs
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipe Springs
    • Sipe Springs is located in Comanche County
  • Romney
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Romney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Romney
    • Romney is located in Eastland County
  • Carbon
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbon have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
    • Carbon is located in Eastland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carbon <1>
  • May
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for May have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for May
    • May is located in Brown County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for May <1>
  • Pioneer
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pioneer have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pioneer
    • Pioneer is located in Eastland County
  • Duster
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Duster have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Duster
    • Duster is located in Comanche County
  • Gorman
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gorman have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorman
    • Gorman is located in Eastland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,033 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gorman <1>
  • Nimrod ‑ Historic
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
    • Nimrod is located in Eastland County
  • Sidney
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sidney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sidney
    • Sidney is located in Comanche County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sidney <1>
  • Cross Cut
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
    • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
  • Cross Plains
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Cisco
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cisco have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
      • Cisco is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,850 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cisco <1>
    • Scranton
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Scranton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Scranton
      • Scranton is located in Eastland County
    • Eastland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)

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

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

The official website for Eastland County: www.eastlandcountytexas.com/

The official website for State of Texas: https://texas.gov/

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 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.
<3>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- Okra) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Okra. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.1431, Longitude: -98.8773       In this case, the coordinates for Okra have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<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.
<5>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 Okra, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024