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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 Retreat (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 Retreat. 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 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.

Retreat is located in Navarro 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 Navarro County: Anderson, Ellis, Freestone, Henderson, Hill & Limestone.

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

  • Navarro County     (The home county of Retreat)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Retreat, with the one closest to Retreat listed first.
    • Oak Valley
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Oak Valley is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oak Valley
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
    • Corsicana
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
    • Angus
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Angus is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
    • Mustang
      (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Mustang is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mustang
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 23 people
    • Navarro
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Navarro is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Navarro
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 217 people
    • Mildred
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
      • Mildred is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mildred
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Powell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Powell is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
    • Emhouse
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Emhouse is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Emhouse
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 154 people
    • Pursley
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Pursley is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pursley
    • Richland
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
      • Richland is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
    • Barry
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Elm Flat
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
      • Elm Flat is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elm Flat
  • Anderson County
  • Ellis County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Retreat, with the one closest to Retreat listed first.
    • Alma
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Alma is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Alma
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 400 people
    • Bardwell
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Avalon
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Ennis
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Telico
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • Telico is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Telico
    • Garrett
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Garrett is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garrett
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 891 people
    • Howard
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Howard is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Howard
    • Crisp
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Crisp is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crisp
    • Nash
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Nash is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nash
    • Italy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Forreston
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Boyce
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Boyce is located in Ellis County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boyce
  • Freestone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Retreat, with the one closest to Retreat listed first.
    • Streetman
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Winkler
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Winkler is located in Freestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winkler
    • Wortham
      (18 miles [29 km] to the south)
    • Kirvin
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Stewards Mill ‑ Historic
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Stewards Mill is located in Freestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stewards Mill
    • Cotton Gin
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
    • Fairfield
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Henderson County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Retreat, with the one closest to Retreat listed first.
    • Trinidad
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Tool
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
      • Tool is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tool
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,335 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tool <1>
    • Seven Points
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Star Harbor
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Star Harbor is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Star Harbor
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 487 people
    • Enchanted Oaks
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Enchanted Oaks is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Enchanted Oaks
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 343 people
    • Payne Springs
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Payne Springs is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payne Springs
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 756 people
    • Gun Barrel City
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Malakoff
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Caney City
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Caney City is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney City
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 223 people
    • Cross Roads
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
      • Cross Roads is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Roads
    • Log Cabin
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Log Cabin is located in Henderson County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Log Cabin
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 785 people
  • Hill County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Retreat, with the one closest to Retreat listed first.
    • Hubbard
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Irene
      (23 miles [37 km] to the west)
    • Mertens
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Malone
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Brandon
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
    • Penelope
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Kaufman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Retreat, with the one closest to Retreat listed first.
    • Styx
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Styx is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Styx
    • Tolosa
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Tolosa is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tolosa
    • Stubbs
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Stubbs is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stubbs
    • Rosser
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
    • Cottonwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Cottonwood is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 209 people
    • Grays Prairie
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
      • Grays Prairie is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays Prairie
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 388 people
    • Kemp
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Kemp is located in Kaufman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kemp
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,251 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kemp <1>
    • Mabank
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Limestone County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Retreat, with the one closest to Retreat listed first.
    • Tehuacana
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Coolidge
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Mexia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Mexia is located in Limestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mexia
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,287 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mexia <1>
    • Delia ‑ Historic
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Delia is located in Limestone County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Delia

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

Cemeteries Near Retreat ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Retreat.

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

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

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

  • Hamilton - Beeman Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Cosgrove Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
  • Cunningham Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Oakwood Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Resthaven Memorial Park
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Woodland Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Woodland Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodland Memorial Park
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Woodland Memorial Park is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Corsicana.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #7730 <3>
  • Marshall Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Black Hills Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Zion Rest Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the north)
  • Grape Creek Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Providence Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (143 more) ...
    • Campbell - Elrod Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Providence Cemetery
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Hopewell Cemetery
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)

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.<4>

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

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

  • Angus
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Angus is located in Navarro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Angus
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 427 people
  • Corsicana
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
  • Drane
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Drane is located in Navarro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Drane
  • Pursley
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Pursley is located in Navarro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pursley
  • Richland
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Richland is located in Navarro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Richland
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 273 people
  • Powell
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Powell is located in Navarro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 149 people
  • Barry
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Purdon
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Eureka
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
    • Eureka is located in Navarro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eureka
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 315 people
  • Cryer Creek ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
    • Cryer Creek is located in Navarro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cryer Creek
  • Dresden
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Dresden is located in Navarro County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dresden
  • Chatfield
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Rice
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
      • Rice is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rice
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 983 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rice <1>
    • Blooming Grove
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
    • Spring Hill
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Spring Hill is located in Navarro County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spring Hill

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

Newspapers Published in Retreat ...

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 69 newspapers that have been published in the area around Retreat.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Retreat, there are papers which were published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Retreat.

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 Retreat:

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>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- Retreat) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>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.
<4>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 Retreat, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.