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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 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 parishes/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 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 may 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)
    • Bleakwood
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
      • Bleakwood is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleakwood
    • Bon Wier
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Hughes ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Hughes is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
    • Deweyville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
    • Newton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Shanklerville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Shanklerville is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanklerville
  • Hardin County
    • Silsbee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • 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)
      • Call Junction is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Call Junction
    • Kirbyville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Buna
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Bunker Hill
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Bunker Hill is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunker Hill
    • 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)
      • Beech Grove is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Grove
  • 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)
      • Lemonville is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemonville
    • Mauriceville
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Texla
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
      • Texla is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Texla
    • Pine Forest
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine Forest is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Forest
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 516 people
    • Pine Grove
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Pine Grove is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Grove
    • Pinehurst
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
      • Pinehurst is located in Orange County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinehurst
      • 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)
    • Town Bluff
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Town Bluff is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Bluff
  • 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)
      • Helme is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Helme
    • Merryville
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Singer
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • Newlin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Newlin is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlin
  • 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)
      • Dequincy is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dequincy
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,009 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dequincy <1>
    • Edgerly
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
    • Vinton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>

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.

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 Old Salem - one of the links might be able to help.

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)
  • Wright Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Biloxi Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • Wilson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Smith Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Belgrade Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Archie Clark Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for 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 Babe Clark Cemetery
    • The Babe Clark Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Clark Cemetery
  • Bean Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Laurel Sudduth Bluff Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Carter Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Hyatt Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Continue List   (80 more) ...
    • Franks Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Hughes Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Whitman Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 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.<2>

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)
    • Bleakwood is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleakwood
  • Belgrade
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Belgrade is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgrade
  • Magnolia Springs
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Magnolia Springs is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Springs
  • Newton
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
  • Erin
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Erin is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
  • Echo
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Echo is located in Orange County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Echo
  • Vinton
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Vinton is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vinton
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,211 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vinton <1>
  • Edgerly
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Edgerly is located in Calcasieu Parish (LA)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edgerly
  • 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)
    • Town Bluff is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Bluff

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]<3>. 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 helpful 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 Old Salem:

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>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.
<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 from Point A (ie- Old Salem) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.