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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 Plains (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 Plains. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Plains is located in Borden 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 Borden County: Dawson, Garza, Howard, Lynn, Martin, Mitchell & Scurry.

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

  • Borden County     (The home county of Plains)
  • Dawson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plains, with the one closest to Plains listed first.
    • O'Donnell
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for O'Donnell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for O'Donnell
      • O'Donnell is located in Dawson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 847 people
    • Los Ybanez
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Los Ybanez have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Ybanez
      • Los Ybanez is located in Dawson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 17 people
    • Lamesa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamesa
      • Lamesa is located in Dawson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,131 people
      • Lamesa has also been known as:
      • La Mesa
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lamesa <1>
    • Sparenberg
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparenberg
      • Sparenberg is located in Dawson County
    • Ackerly
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ackerly have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ackerly
      • Ackerly is located in Dawson County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 234 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ackerly <1>
    • Welch
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Welch have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Welch
      • Welch is located in Dawson County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Welch <1>
  • Garza County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plains, with the one closest to Plains listed first.
    • Close City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Close City
      • Close City is located in Garza County
      • Close City has also been known as:
      • Ragtown
    • Post
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post
      • Post is located in Garza County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,123 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Post <1>
    • Justiceburg
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
  • Howard County
  • Lynn County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plains, with the one closest to Plains listed first.
    • Draw
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Draw
      • Draw is located in Lynn County
    • Grassland
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassland
      • Grassland is located in Lynn County
    • Tahoka
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tahoka have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tahoka
      • Tahoka is located in Lynn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,665 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tahoka <1>
    • New Lynn ‑ Historic
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Lynn have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Lynn
      • New Lynn is located in Lynn County
    • Wilson
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wilson have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wilson
      • Wilson is located in Lynn County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 493 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wilson <1>
    • Wayside ‑ Historic
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wayside have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayside
      • Wayside is located in Lynn County
  • Scurry County
    • Fluvanna
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fluvanna have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fluvanna
      • Fluvanna is located in Scurry County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fluvanna <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Plains ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Plains.

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

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

  • Plain View Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Plain View Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Plain View Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • ODonnell Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the ODonnell Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the ODonnell Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Grassland Cemetery
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
  • Gail Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gail Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Gail Cemetery is located outside and to the northeast of Gail.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1980096 <4>
  • Midway Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Midway Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Midway Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Nevels Memorial Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Nevels Memorial Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Nevels Memorial Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Tahoka.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2182428 <4>
  • Tahoka Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tahoka Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Tahoka Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southeast of Tahoka.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #240391 <4>
  • Saint Rest Cemetery
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
  • Kate McCommis Grave
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Kate McCommis Grave
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Kate McCommis Grave. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<5>
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Kate McCommis Grave is located 2 miles [3.2 km]<3> to the northeast of Post.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2382811 <4>
  • Durham Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Durham Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Durham Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #3316 <4>
  • Terrace Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Terrace Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Terrace Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the east of Post.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7207 <4>
  • Pride Cemetery
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pride Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pride Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (10 more) ...
    • Fairview Cemetery
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fairview Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fairview Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • York Cemetery
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the York Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the York Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7794 <4>
    • Green Memorial Park
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Green Memorial Park
      • To give a relative sense of its location, the Green Memorial Park is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Wilson.
      • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #3923 <4>

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.<6>

While we didn't find Plains in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Plains.

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

  • Gail
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Grassland
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grassland
    • Grassland is located in Lynn County

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

Newspapers Published in Plains ...

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 12 newspapers that have been published in the area around Plains.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Plains, there are papers which were published within 21 miles [33.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Plains.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Plains:

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

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

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 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.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a '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- Plains) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Plains. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.9123, Longitude: -101.6446       In this case, the coordinates for Plains have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<4>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.
<5>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.
<6>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 Plains, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025