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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 Plano (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 Plano. 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 doctors and hospitals 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.

Plano is primarily located in Collin County. A portion of Plano extends into Denton 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 Plano. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Plano:

  • Collin County     (The home county of Plano)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plano, with the one closest to Plano listed first.
    • Murphy
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Parker
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
    • Allen
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • 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>
    • Sachse
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Saint Paul
      (9 miles [14.5 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
    • Lucas
      (9 miles [14.5 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
    • Fairview
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Carrollton
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Hebron
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Hebron is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
    • Wylie
      (11 miles [17.7 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>
    • Frisco
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Clear Lake
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
      • Clear Lake is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Clear Lake
    • McKinney
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Comanche County
  • Dallas County
  • Denton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plano, with the one closest to Plano listed first.
    • The Colony
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Hackberry
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Hackberry is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,094 people
    • Lakewood Village
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Lakewood Village is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakewood Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,002 people
    • Little Elm
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Hickory Creek
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Lake Dallas
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Oak Point
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Lincoln Park
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Providence Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Shady Shores
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
      • Shady Shores is located in Denton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shady Shores
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,958 people
    • Highland Village
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Corinth
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Cross Roads
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Grayson County
  • Hunt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plano, with the one closest to Plano listed first.
    • Caddo Mills
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Hendrix
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Union Valley
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Union Valley is located in Hunt County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 461 people
    • Clinton
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Merit
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Kaufman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plano, with the one closest to Plano listed first.
    • Heath
      (17 miles [27.4 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
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Lawrence is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawrence
    • 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
    • Poetry
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Crandall
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Rockwall County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Plano, with the one closest to Plano listed first.
    • Rockwall
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Mobile City
      (18 miles [29 km] to the east)
    • Fate
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Blackland
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
    • McLendon - Chisholm
      (22 miles [35.4 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

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

Cemeteries Near Plano ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Plano.

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

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

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Plano, with the one closest to Plano 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 Plano had a population of 842 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Plano had a population of 291,296 people.

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

  • Renner
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Renner is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Renner
  • Richardson
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Murphy
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Parker
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
  • Allen
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • 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>
  • Sachse
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Garland
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Lebanon
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Lebanon is located in Collin County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
  • Pleasant Valley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Pleasant Valley is located in Dallas County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pleasant Valley
  • Saint Paul
    (9 miles [14.5 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
  • Lucas
    (9 miles [14.5 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
  • Carrollton
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (16 more) ...
    • Hebron
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
      • Hebron is located in Collin County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hebron
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 212 people
    • Trinity Mills
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Farmers Branch
      (11 miles [17.7 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 Plano. See our List of 1890's Communities around Plano.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Plano ...

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 236 newspapers that have been published in the area around Plano.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Plano. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Plano and those printed in the larger area surrounding Plano.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 22 miles [35.4 km]<4> of Plano.

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 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 Plano:

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 Plano, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Plano) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.