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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 Parker (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 Parker. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Parker is located in Collin 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 Collin County: Dallas, Denton, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt & Rockwall.

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

  • Collin County     (The home county of Parker)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parker, with the one closest to Parker listed first.
    • Murphy
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Lucas
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Lucas is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,819 people
    • Saint Paul
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Saint Paul is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Paul
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,039 people
    • Allen
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Allen is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 109,379 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <1>
    • Fairview
      (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
    • Plano
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
    • Wylie
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Wylie is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wylie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,467 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wylie <1>
    • Sachse
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Clear Lake
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
      • Clear Lake is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
    • Lowry Crossing
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • McKinney
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Biggers ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Biggers is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Biggers
  • Comanche County
  • Dallas County
  • Denton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parker, with the one closest to Parker listed first.
    • The Colony
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Hackberry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Hackberry is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,094 people
    • Little Elm
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Lakewood Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Lakewood Village is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,002 people
    • Lincoln Park
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Providence Village
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Point
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Cross Roads
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Hickory Creek
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Lake Dallas
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Highland Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Shady Shores
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Shady Shores is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Shores
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,958 people
  • Fannin County
  • Grayson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parker, with the one closest to Parker listed first.
    • Cannon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Cannon is located in Grayson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cannon
    • Gunter
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Pilot Grove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
  • Hunt County
  • Kaufman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parker, with the one closest to Parker listed first.
    • Heath
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Heath is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heath
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,718 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Heath <1>
    • Forney
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Lawrence
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Lawrence is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
    • Poetry
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Talty
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Talty is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Talty
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,883 people
    • Terrell
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Rockwall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parker, with the one closest to Parker listed first.
    • Rockwall
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Fate
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Mobile City
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Blackland
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • McLendon - Chisholm
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • McLendon - Chisholm is located in Rockwall County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McLendon - Chisholm
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,815 people
  • Tarrant County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Parker, with the one closest to Parker listed first.
    • Minters Chapel ‑ Historic
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Minters Chapel is located in Tarrant County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minters Chapel
    • Euless
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)

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

Cemeteries Near Parker ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Parker.

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

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

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

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, Parker had a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Parker had a population of 5,442 people.

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

  • Murphy
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Lucas
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Lucas is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lucas
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,819 people
  • Saint Paul
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Saint Paul is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Paul
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,039 people
  • Allen
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Allen is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Allen
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 109,379 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Allen <1>
  • Plano
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Sachse
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Wylie
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Wylie is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wylie
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 54,467 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wylie <1>
  • Pleasant Valley
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Pleasant Valley is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
  • Richardson
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Garland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • McKinney
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
  • Renner
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Renner is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renner
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Rowlett
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Lavon
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
    • Princeton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Parker ...

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 226 newspapers that have been published in the area around Parker.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Parker, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Parker.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start 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 Parker:

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 Parker, 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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Parker) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.