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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 Ratler (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 Ratler. 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.

Ratler is located in Mills 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 Mills County: Brown, Comanche, Hamilton, Lampasas & San Saba.

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

  • Mills County     (The home county of Ratler)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ratler, with the one closest to Ratler listed first.
    • Regency ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Regency have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency
      • Regency is located in Mills County
    • Ridge
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ridge
      • Ridge is located in Mills County
    • Buffalo
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Buffalo have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo
      • Buffalo is located in Mills County
    • Williams Ranch ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Williams Ranch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ranch
      • Williams Ranch is located in Mills County
    • Ebony ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ebony have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ebony
      • Ebony is located in Mills County
    • Goldthwaite
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Mullin
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Bozar
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bozar
      • Bozar is located in Mills County
    • Center City
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Center City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Center City
      • Center City is located in Mills County
    • Priddy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Star
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Star have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star
      • Star is located in Mills County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Star <3>
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ratler, with the one closest to Ratler listed first.
    • Indian Creek
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
      • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
    • Keys Crossing
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Keys Crossing
      • Keys Crossing is located in Brown County
    • Zephyr
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Brookesmith
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Brownwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
      • Brownwood is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,208 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brownwood <3>
    • Early
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Blanket
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Coleman County
    • Trickham
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trickham
      • Trickham is located in Coleman County
      • Former name for Trickham:
      • Trick'em
  • Hamilton County
    • McGirk ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McGirk have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McGirk
      • McGirk is located in Hamilton County
  • Lampasas County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ratler, with the one closest to Ratler listed first.
    • Senterfitt ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Senterfitt have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Senterfitt
      • Senterfitt is located in Lampasas County
    • Lometa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Nix
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nix
      • Nix is located in Lampasas County
  • McCulloch County
    • Rochelle
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rochelle have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rochelle
      • Rochelle is located in McCulloch County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rochelle <3>
  • San Saba County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Ratler, with the one closest to Ratler listed first.
    • Locker ‑ Historic
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Locker
      • Locker is located in San Saba County
    • Richland Springs
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richland Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland Springs
      • Richland Springs is located in San Saba County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richland Springs <3>
    • San Saba
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Holt ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holt
      • Holt is located in San Saba County
    • Bend
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Cherokee
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)

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

Newspapers Published in Ratler ...

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 14 newspapers that have been published in the area around Ratler.

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

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 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 Ratler:

Cemeteries Near Ratler ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Ratler.

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

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

  • Spring Creek Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Spring Creek Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Spring Creek Cemetery
  • Ratler Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ratler Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ratler Cemetery
  • Neal Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Neal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Neal Cemetery
  • Catclaw Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Catclaw Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Catclaw Cemetery
  • Lower Valley Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Lower Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Lower Valley Cemetery
  • Estep Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Estep Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Estep Cemetery
  • Regency Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Regency Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Regency Cemetery
  • Mesquite Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mesquite Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mesquite Cemetery
  • Hollis Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Big Valley Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Big Valley Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Big Valley Cemetery
  • Locker Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Locker Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Locker Cemetery
  • Traylor Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Traylor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Traylor Cemetery
  • Continue List   (81 more) ...
    • McMillin Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McMillin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McMillin Cemetery
    • Rock Spring Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Rock Spring Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rock Spring Cemetery
    • Shiloh Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Shiloh Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Shiloh Cemetery

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.<5>

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

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

  • Regency ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Regency have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Regency
    • Regency is located in Mills County
  • Big Valley
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Big Valley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Big Valley
    • Big Valley is located in Mills County
  • Williams Ranch ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Williams Ranch. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<2>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Williams Ranch
    • Williams Ranch is located in Mills County
  • Richland Springs
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Richland Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland Springs
    • Richland Springs is located in San Saba County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 310 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Richland Springs <3>
  • Goldthwaite
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • San Saba
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
  • Mullin
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Indian Creek
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Creek
    • Indian Creek is located in Brown County
  • Zephyr
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Milburn
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Milburn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milburn
    • Milburn is located in McCulloch County
  • Ricker ‑ Historic
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ricker have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ricker
    • Ricker is located in Brown County
  • Bend
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (6 more) ...
    • Lometa
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Brownwood
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brownwood have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brownwood
      • Brownwood is located in Brown County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,208 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Brownwood <3>
    • Priddy
      (25 miles [40.2 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 Ratler. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ratler.

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>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.
<3>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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 drawn from Point A (ie- Ratler) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Ratler. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.3813, Longitude: -98.7692       In this case, the coordinates for Ratler have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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 Ratler, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024