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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 Rockdale (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 Rockdale. 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 southeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the east. 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 east 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.

Rockdale is located in Hopkins 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 Hopkins County: Delta, Franklin, Hunt, Lamar, Rains, Red River & Wood.

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

  • Hopkins County     (The home county of Rockdale)
  • Delta County
  • Fannin County
  • Franklin County
  • Hunt County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
    • Commerce
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Commerce have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Commerce
      • Commerce is located in Hunt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,700 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Commerce <1>
    • Campbell
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Campbell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Campbell
      • Campbell is located in Hunt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 634 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Campbell <1>
    • Lone Oak
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lone Oak have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lone Oak
      • Lone Oak is located in Hunt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 699 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lone Oak <1>
    • Yowell
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yowell have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yowell
      • Yowell is located in Hunt County
    • Neylandville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Neylandville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neylandville
      • Neylandville is located in Hunt County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Neylandville
      • From Rockdale to Neylandville
    • Jardin
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Jardin. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jardin
      • Jardin is located in Hunt County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Jardin
      • From Rockdale to Jardin
    • Dixon
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
    • Fairlie
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Fairlie. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairlie
      • Fairlie is located in Hunt County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Fairlie
      • From Rockdale to Fairlie
    • South Sulphur
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Jacobia
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Weiland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Aberfoyle
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Lamar County
  • Rains County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
    • Emory
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Point
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • East Tawakoni
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for East Tawakoni have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Tawakoni
      • East Tawakoni is located in Rains County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 991 people
    • Flats
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
    • Hooker Ridge
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
  • Titus County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
    • Miller's Cove
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Miller's Cove have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miller's Cove
      • Miller's Cove is located in Titus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 175 people
    • Winfield
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winfield have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winfield
      • Winfield is located in Titus County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 538 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winfield <1>
  • Van Zandt County
  • Wood County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rockdale, with the one closest to Rockdale listed first.
    • Yantis
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yantis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yantis
      • Yantis is located in Wood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 425 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yantis <1>
    • Gunter
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gunter have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gunter
      • Gunter is located in Wood County
    • Coke
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Alba
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • Forest Hill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Quitman
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Stout
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Stout. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stout
      • Stout is located in Wood County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Stout
      • From Rockdale to Stout
    • Golden
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Golden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden
      • Golden is located in Wood County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Golden <1>

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

Cemeteries Near Rockdale ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rockdale.

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

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

  • Sulphur Springs City Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Shooks Chapel Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
  • Restlawn Memorial Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Restlawn Memorial Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Restlawn Memorial Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Melton Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Melton Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Melton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gamblin Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gamblin Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gamblin Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Richland Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
  • Ishmeal Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Ishmeal Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Ishmeal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Seymore Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Seymore Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Seymore Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Pleasant Grove Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Pleasant Grove Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Pleasant Grove Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Proctor Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Proctor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Proctor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Welch Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Welch Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Welch Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Oakland Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Continue List   (192 more) ...
    • Jordan Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Jordan Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Jordan Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Deaton Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Deaton Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Deaton Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Elm Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Elm Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Elm Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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

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

  • Sulphur Springs
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Tazewell
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Divide
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Reilly Springs
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reilly Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reilly Springs
    • Reilly Springs is located in Hopkins County
  • Ridgeway
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Peerless
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
  • Como
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Miller Grove
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Birthright
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Birthright have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Birthright
    • Birthright is located in Hopkins County
  • Dike
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
  • Addran
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Addran have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Addran
    • Addran is located in Hopkins County
  • Yantis
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Yantis have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Yantis
    • Yantis is located in Wood County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 425 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Yantis <1>
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...
    • Weaver
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
    • Pine Forest
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pine Forest have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pine Forest
      • Pine Forest is located in Hopkins County
    • Black Oak
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)

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

Newspapers Published in Rockdale ...

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 35 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rockdale.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Rockdale, there are papers which were published within 24 miles [38.6 km]<6>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Rockdale.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with 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 Rockdale:

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

The official website for Hopkins County: www.hopkinscountytx.org/

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

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 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.
<3>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.
<4>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.
<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 Rockdale, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Rockdale) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rockdale. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 33.1132, Longitude: -95.6372    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025