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 Petrolia (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 Petrolia. 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.
Petrolia is located in Clay 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 Clay County: Cotton (OK), Jefferson (OK), Archer, Jack, Montague & Wichita.
Below are the counties that are near Petrolia. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Petrolia:
- Clay County (The home county of Petrolia)
- The following are listed by their distance from Petrolia, with the one closest to Petrolia listed first.
- Byers
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Dean
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Dean is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dean
- Population from the 2020 Census: 469 people
- Thornberry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Thornberry is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornberry
- Jolly
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jolly is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
- Henrietta
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Bluegrove
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Bellevue
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Joy
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Joy is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joy
- Archer County
- The following are listed by their distance from Petrolia, with the one closest to Petrolia listed first.
- Lakeside City
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lakeside City is located in Archer County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeside City
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,008 people
- Scotland
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Holliday
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Montague County
- The following are listed by their distance from Petrolia, with the one closest to Petrolia listed first.
- Ringgold
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Belcherville ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Belcherville is located in Montague County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belcherville
- Hynds City
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Hynds City is located in Montague County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hynds City
- Wichita County
- The following are listed by their distance from Petrolia, with the one closest to Petrolia listed first.
- Cashion Community
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
- Cashion Community is located in Wichita County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cashion Community
- Population from the 2020 Census: 360 people
- Wichita Falls
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Burkburnett
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Valley
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Pleasant Valley is located in Wichita County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
- Population from the 2020 Census: 338 people
- Iowa Park
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Clara
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Clara is located in Wichita County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clara
- Cotton County (OK)
- The following are listed by their distance from Petrolia, with the one closest to Petrolia listed first.
- Taylor
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Taylor is located in Cotton County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Taylor
- Temple
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Randlett
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cookietown
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cookietown is located in Cotton County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cookietown
- Devol
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Walters
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Walters is located in Cotton County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Walters
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,357 people
- Former name for Walters:
- Walter
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Walters <1>
- Jefferson County (OK)
- The following are listed by their distance from Petrolia, with the one closest to Petrolia listed first.
- Ryan
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Ryan is located in Jefferson County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ryan
- Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ryan <1>
- Sugden
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Sugden is located in Jefferson County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugden
- Population from the 2020 Census: 41 people
- Hastings
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Waurika
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
- Terral
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Addington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Fleetwood
(23 miles [37 km] to the east)
- Fleetwood is located in Jefferson County (OK)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fleetwood
- Oscar
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
- Stephens County (OK)
- Comanche
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
- Tillman County (OK)
- Grandfield
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Petrolia, see our County-by-County Page for Petrolia.
Cemeteries Near Petrolia ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Petrolia.
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 Petrolia - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Petrolia covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Petrolia, with the one closest to Petrolia listed first.
- Riverside Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Hurnville Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Benvenue Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Riverland Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Kempner Cemetery
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
- The Kempner Cemetery is located on private property - be sure to secure permission before visiting.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kempner Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4600 <2>
- Cambridge Cemetery
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
- White Hill Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Sugden Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Waurika Cemetery
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Fairview Cemetery of Randlett
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- Temple Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Temple Cemetery
- The Temple Cemetery has also been known as:
- Temple Masonic Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #99642 <2>
- Ryan Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (49 more) ...
- Hastings Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Hastings Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
- Fairview Cemetery
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
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>
While we didn't find Petrolia in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Petrolia.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Petrolia, with the one closest to Petrolia listed first.
- Hurnville
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Hurnville is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hurnville
- Charlie
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Charlie is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charlie
- Thornberry
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Thornberry is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thornberry
- Jolly
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Jolly is located in Clay County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jolly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 164 people
- Henrietta
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Wichita Falls
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Bluegrove
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Iowa Park
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Belcherville ‑ Historic
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
- Belcherville is located in Montague County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belcherville
- Bellevue
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
- Holliday
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Petrolia. See our List of 1890's Communities around Petrolia.
Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Petrolia ...
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 81 newspapers that have been published in the area around Petrolia.
We have organized these newspapers into two lists:
- A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Petrolia. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Petrolia and those printed in the larger area surrounding Petrolia.
- An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<4> of Petrolia.
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 professional and volunteer 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 Petrolia:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Clay County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Archer County
- Montague County
- Wichita County
- Cotton County
- Jefferson County
- Stephens County
- Tillman County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
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 Petrolia, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Petrolia) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |