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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 Rayford (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 Rayford. 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 hospitals 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.

Rayford is located in Montgomery 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 Montgomery County: Grimes, Harris, Liberty, San Jacinto, Walker & Waller.

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

  • Montgomery County     (The home county of Rayford)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rayford, with the one closest to Rayford listed first.
    • Chateau Woods
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the north)
      • Chateau Woods is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chateau Woods
    • Oak Ridge North
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Sleepy Hollow
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
      • Sleepy Hollow is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sleepy Hollow
    • The Woodlands
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Shenandoah
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Porter Heights
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
      • Porter Heights is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Porter Heights
    • Woodloch
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
      • Woodloch is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodloch
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 207 people
    • Grangerland
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Porter
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Conroe
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Conroe is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conroe
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 96,214 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Conroe <1>
    • New Caney
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Cut and Shoot
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
    • Pinehurst
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Grimes County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rayford, with the one closest to Rayford listed first.
    • Todd Mission
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Todd Mission is located in Grimes County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Todd Mission
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 112 people
    • Plantersville
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Harris County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rayford, with the one closest to Rayford listed first.
    • Spring
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
    • Forest North
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Forest North is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Forest North
    • Sandpiper Village
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
      • Sandpiper Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sandpiper Village
    • Bammel
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
      • Bammel is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bammel
    • Klein
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Pinewood Place
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Pinewood Place is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood Place
    • Oak Creek Village
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Oak Creek Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Creek Village
    • Hufsmith
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Kingwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Greenwood Forest
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Greenwood Forest is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenwood Forest
    • Louetta ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Louetta is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Louetta
    • Tomball
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Deco
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Liberty County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rayford, with the one closest to Rayford listed first.
    • Plum Grove
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Plum Grove is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum Grove
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 756 people
    • Nimrod ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Nimrod is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nimrod
    • Cleveland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • North Cleveland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • North Cleveland is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Cleveland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 313 people
    • Gum Grove
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Gum Grove is located in Liberty County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gum Grove
  • San Jacinto County
    • Magnolia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Magnolia is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
  • Walker County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rayford, with the one closest to Rayford listed first.
    • New Waverly
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Elmina
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Elmina is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmina

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

Cemeteries Near Rayford ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rayford.

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

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

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

  • Spring Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Spring Peaceful Rest Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Tamina Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Bonin Family Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the west)
  • Budde Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Wunsche Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the south)
  • Huckabee Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Klein Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Mueschke Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Calvary Hill Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Calvary Hill Cemetery
    • The Calvary Hill Cemetery has also been known as:
    • Eternity Park Cemetery
    • Forest Lawn North Cemetery
  • Eternity Park
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Willow Creek Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (141 more) ...
    • McDougle Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Glameyer Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
    • Zion Lutheran Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)

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 Rayford in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Rayford.

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

  • Spring
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the south)
  • Egypt
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Egypt is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Egypt
  • Conroe
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Conroe is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conroe
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 96,214 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Conroe <1>
  • Humble
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • New Caney
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Aldine
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the south)
  • Rose Hill
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Rose Hill is located in Harris County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rose Hill
  • Cypress
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Willis
    (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
    • Willis is located in Montgomery County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Willis
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,122 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Willis <1>
  • Huffman
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
  • Montgomery
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Hockley
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Piney Point Village
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Piney Point Village is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piney Point Village
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,416 people
      • Piney Point Village has also been known as:
      • Piney Point
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Piney Point Village <1>
    • Sheldon
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Sheldon is located in Harris County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheldon
    • Cleveland
      (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 Rayford. See our List of 1890's Communities around Rayford.

Newspapers Published in Rayford ...

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 7 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rayford.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rayford, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rayford.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Rayford:

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 Rayford, 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 from Point A (ie- Rayford) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.