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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 Oran (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 Oran. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals and doctors 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 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 counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

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

Oran is located in Palo Pinto 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 Palo Pinto County: Eastland, Erath, Hood, Jack, Parker, Stephens & Young.

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

  • Palo Pinto County     (The home county of Oran)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oran, with the one closest to Oran listed first.
    • Salesville
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Salesville is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salesville
    • Graford
      (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Wolters Village
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Wolters Village is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wolters Village
    • Mineral Wells
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Palo Pinto
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Brazos
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Brazos is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brazos
    • Santo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
  • Jack County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oran, with the one closest to Oran listed first.
    • Perrin
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Gibtown
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Gibtown is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gibtown
    • Westbrook
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Westbrook is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westbrook
    • Jacksboro
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
    • Bob Town
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Bob Town is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bob Town
    • Wizard Wells
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Wizard Wells is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wizard Wells
    • Bryson
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Jermyn
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Parker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oran, with the one closest to Oran listed first.
    • Whitt
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Adell
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Adell is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adell
    • Authon
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Authon is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Authon
    • Cool
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Cool is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cool
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 191 people
    • Poolville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Millsap
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Peaster
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Lemley
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
      • Lemley is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemley
    • Agnes
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
      • Agnes is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnes
    • Greenwood
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Greenwood is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood
    • Goshen
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Goshen is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Brock
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Brock is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brock
    • Carter
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Carter is located in Parker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carter
  • Wise County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oran, with the one closest to Oran listed first.
    • Boonsville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Boonsville is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsville
    • Runaway Bay
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Lake Bridgeport
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lake Bridgeport is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Bridgeport
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 405 people
    • Bridgeport
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Paradise
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Young County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Oran, with the one closest to Oran listed first.
    • Bunger
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Bunger is located in Young County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bunger
    • Graham
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Loving
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
    • South Bend
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)

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

Cemeteries Near Oran ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Oran.

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

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

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

  • Garden of Memories Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
  • Union Hill Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Perrino Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Bartons Chapel Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Locke Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Staggs Prairie Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Wood Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Halsell Ranch Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Indian Creek Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Ebenezer Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Fairview Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Lu Queen Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (112 more) ...

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Oran had a post office and no railroad service.

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

  • Salesville
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Salesville is located in Palo Pinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Salesville
  • Whitt
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Mineral Wells
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Garner
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Garner is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garner
  • Joplin
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Joplin is located in Jack County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joplin
  • Authon
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Authon is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Authon
  • Adell
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
    • Adell is located in Parker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adell
  • Palo Pinto
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Millsap
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Poolville
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
  • Willow Point
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Willow Point is located in Wise County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willow Point
  • Jacksboro
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (15 more) ...
    • Peaster
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Boonsville
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Boonsville is located in Wise County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boonsville
    • Vineyard
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Vineyard is located in Jack County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vineyard

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

Newspapers Published in Oran ...

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 55 newspapers that have been published in the area around Oran.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Oran, 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 Oran.

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 Oran:

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