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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 Riverside (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 Riverside. 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.

Riverside is located in Walker 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 Walker County: Grimes, Houston, Madison, Montgomery, San Jacinto & Trinity.

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

  • Walker County     (The home county of Riverside)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
    • Dodge
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
    • Kittrell
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Kittrell is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kittrell
    • Huntsville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
    • Barado
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Barado is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barado
    • Elmina
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
      • Elmina is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmina
    • New Waverly
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
    • Goshen ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Goshen is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Goshen
    • Wesley Grove
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Wesley Grove is located in Walker County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley Grove
  • Houston County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
    • Antioch ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
      • Antioch is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
    • Holly
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Holly is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly
    • Lovelady
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Austonio
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Austonio is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Austonio
    • Cooper
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
      • Cooper is located in Houston County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cooper
  • Madison County
    • Midway
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Montgomery County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
    • Danville ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
      • Danville is located in Montgomery County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Danville
    • Willis
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the south)
      • 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>
  • Polk County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
    • Onalaska
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
    • Bold Springs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Bold Springs is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bold Springs
    • West Livingston
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • West Livingston is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Livingston
    • Swartout ‑ Historic
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Swartout is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Swartout
    • Livingston
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the east)
    • Lamont
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Lamont is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lamont
    • New Willard
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • New Willard is located in Polk County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Willard
  • San Jacinto County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
    • Oakhurst
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Point Blank
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Laurel Hill
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Laurel Hill is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurel Hill
    • Evergreen
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Evergreen is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
    • Coldspring
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
    • Magnolia
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
      • Magnolia is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia
  • Trinity County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Riverside, with the one closest to Riverside listed first.
    • Trinity
      (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
    • Mill Town
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
      • Mill Town is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mill Town
    • Carlisle
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
      • Carlisle is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
    • Chita
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Chita is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chita
    • Glendale
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Glendale is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
    • Friday
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Friday is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friday
    • Groveton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Sumpter ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Sumpter is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sumpter
    • Woodlake
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Woodlake is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodlake
    • Pennington
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
    • Lacy
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Lacy is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lacy
      • Lacy has also been known as:
      • Lacey

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

Cemeteries Near Riverside ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Riverside.

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

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

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

  • Gospel Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Gospel Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Dodge Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
  • Chapel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Chapel Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Cline Prairie Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Community Relief Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Mt. Capers Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Cleveland Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
  • Center Hill Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • McGown Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Dunlap Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (130 more) ...
    • Cincinnati Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
    • Grant Colony Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Spivey Cemetery
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)

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.<2>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Riverside had a population of 178 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Riverside had a population of 547 people.

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

  • Trinity
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
  • Dodge
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Phelps
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
    • Phelps is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Phelps
  • Huntsville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
  • Point Blank
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Saron
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Saron is located in Trinity County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saron
  • Antioch ‑ Historic
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Antioch is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Antioch
  • Holly
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Holly is located in Houston County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Holly
  • Lovelady
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Bath
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Bath is located in Walker County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bath
  • New Waverly
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
  • Evergreen
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Evergreen is located in San Jacinto County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Evergreen
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Groveton
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Maynard
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Maynard is located in San Jacinto County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maynard
    • Josserand
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northeast)
      • Josserand is located in Trinity County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josserand

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

Newspapers Published in Riverside ...

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 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Riverside.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Riverside, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Riverside.

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 helpful 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 Riverside:

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>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 Riverside, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<3>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Riverside) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.