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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 Old Salem (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 Old Salem. 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 Parishes/Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring parishes/counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 parishes/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 south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring parishes/counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Old Salem is located in Newton 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 Newton County: Beauregard (LA), Calcasieu (LA), Sabine (LA), Vernon (LA), Jasper, Orange & Sabine.

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

  • Newton County     (The home county of Old Salem)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Salem, with the one closest to Old Salem listed first.
    • Call
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Call. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Call
      • Call is located in Newton County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Call <2>
    • Bleakwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bleakwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleakwood
      • Bleakwood is located in Newton County
    • Bon Wier
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bon Wier have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bon Wier
      • Bon Wier is located in Newton County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bon Wier <2>
    • Hughes ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hughes. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
      • Hughes is located in Newton County
    • Deweyville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Newton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
      • Newton is located in Newton County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,329 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newton <2>
    • Shanklerville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanklerville
      • Shanklerville is located in Newton County
  • Hardin County
    • Silsbee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Silsbee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silsbee
      • Silsbee is located in Hardin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,610 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Silsbee <2>
  • Jasper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Salem, with the one closest to Old Salem listed first.
    • Call Junction
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Call Junction
      • Call Junction is located in Jasper County
    • Kirbyville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kirbyville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kirbyville
      • Kirbyville is located in Jasper County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,032 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kirbyville <2>
    • Buna
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buna have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buna
      • Buna is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Buna <2>
    • Evadale
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Jasper
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Beech Grove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Beech Grove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Grove
      • Beech Grove is located in Jasper County
  • Orange County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Salem, with the one closest to Old Salem listed first.
    • Lemonville ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lemonville have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemonville
      • Lemonville is located in Orange County
    • Mauriceville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Texla
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texla
      • Texla is located in Orange County
    • Pine Forest
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Forest
      • Pine Forest is located in Orange County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
    • Pine Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
      • Pine Grove is located in Orange County
    • Pinehurst
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
      • Pinehurst is located in Orange County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,959 people
  • Tyler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Salem, with the one closest to Old Salem listed first.
    • Fred
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Spurger
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Beauregard Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Salem, with the one closest to Old Salem listed first.
    • Helme
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Helme. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helme
      • Helme is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
    • Merryville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Singer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Singer have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Singer
      • Singer is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Singer <2>
    • Newlin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Newlin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlin
      • Newlin is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
  • Calcasieu Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Old Salem, with the one closest to Old Salem listed first.
    • Starks
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • DeQuincy
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for DeQuincy have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeQuincy
      • DeQuincy is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,009 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for DeQuincy <2>
    • Edgerly
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
      • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
    • Vinton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vinton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
      • Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Old Salem ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Old Salem.

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

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

  • Spikes Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spikes Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spikes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wright Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wright Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wright Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Biloxi Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Biloxi Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Biloxi Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Wilson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wilson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wilson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smith Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Belgrade Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Belgrade Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Belgrade Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Archie Clark Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Archie Clark Cemetery
    • The Archie Clark Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Clark Cemetery
  • Babe Clark Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Babe Clark Cemetery
    • The Babe Clark Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Clark Cemetery
  • Bean Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Bean Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Bean Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Laurel Sudduth Bluff Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Laurel Sudduth Bluff Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Laurel Sudduth Bluff Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Carter Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Carter Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Carter Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hyatt Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hyatt Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hyatt Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (80 more) ...
    • Franks Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Franks Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Franks Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Hughes Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hughes Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hughes Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Whitman Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Whitman Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Whitman Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Old Salem in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Old Salem.

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

  • Bleakwood
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Bleakwood. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleakwood
    • Bleakwood is located in Newton County
  • Belgrade
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belgrade have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgrade
    • Belgrade is located in Newton County
  • Magnolia Springs
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Magnolia Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Springs
    • Magnolia Springs is located in Jasper County
  • Newton
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Newton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newton
    • Newton is located in Newton County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,329 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Newton <2>
  • Erin
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Erin have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
    • Erin is located in Jasper County
  • Echo
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Echo have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
    • Echo is located in Orange County
  • Vinton
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vinton have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
    • Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <2>
  • Edgerly
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
    • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
  • Spurger
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Jasper
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Town Bluff
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Town Bluff have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Bluff
    • Town Bluff is located in Tyler County

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

Newspapers Published in Old Salem ...

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 21 newspapers that have been published in the area around Old Salem.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Old Salem, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Old Salem.

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 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 Old Salem:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Old Salem, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Old Salem) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Old Salem. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 30.5424, Longitude: -93.7680       In this case, the coordinates for Old Salem have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025