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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 Rowena (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 Rowena. 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 doctors and 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.

Rowena is located in Runnels 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 Runnels County: Coke, Coleman, Concho, Nolan, Taylor & Tom Green.

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

  • Runnels County     (The home county of Rowena)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rowena, with the one closest to Rowena listed first.
    • Ballinger
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Miles
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Miles have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles
      • Miles is located in Runnels County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 894 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Miles <1>
    • Maverick ‑ Historic
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Maverick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maverick
      • Maverick is located in Runnels County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Maverick
      • From Rowena to Maverick
    • Norton
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Norton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norton
      • Norton is located in Runnels County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Norton <1>
    • Winters
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winters have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winters
      • Winters is located in Runnels County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,469 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winters <1>
    • Wingate
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
  • Coke County
  • Coleman County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rowena, with the one closest to Rowena listed first.
    • Talpa
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Voss
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Glen Cove
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Glen Cove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
      • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Glen Cove
      • From Rowena to Glen Cove
    • Valera
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Valera have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Valera
      • Valera is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Valera <1>
  • Concho County
  • Tom Green County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Rowena, with the one closest to Rowena listed first.
    • Mereta
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mereta have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mereta
      • Mereta is located in Tom Green County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mereta <1>
    • Orient
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Orient have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orient
      • Orient is located in Tom Green County
    • Veribest
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Veribest. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Veribest
      • Veribest is located in Tom Green County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Veribest
      • From Rowena to Veribest
    • Vancourt
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
    • San Angelo
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Grape Creek
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Grape Creek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grape Creek
      • Grape Creek is located in Tom Green County

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

Cemeteries Near Rowena ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Rowena.

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

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

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>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that in 1895, Rowena had railroad service and no post office.

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

  • Miles
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Miles have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Miles
    • Miles is located in Runnels County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 894 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Miles <1>
  • Ballinger
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Paint Rock
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Paint Rock have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Paint Rock
    • Paint Rock is located in Concho County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 306 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Paint Rock <1>
  • Maverick ‑ Historic
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Maverick. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maverick
    • Maverick is located in Runnels County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Maverick
    • From Rowena to Maverick
  • Talpa
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
  • Winters
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Winters have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winters
    • Winters is located in Runnels County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,469 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winters <1>
  • Bronte
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bronte have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bronte
    • Bronte is located in Coke County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 979 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bronte <1>
  • San Angelo
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Glen Cove
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Glen Cove. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
    • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Glen Cove
    • From Rowena to Glen Cove
  • Fort Chadbourne
    (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fort Chadbourne have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Chadbourne
    • Fort Chadbourne is located in Coke County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Rowena ...

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 48 newspapers that have been published in the area around Rowena.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Rowena. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Rowena and those printed in the larger area surrounding Rowena.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<6> of Rowena.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we begin with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer 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 Rowena:

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

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 Rowena, 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' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Rowena) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Rowena. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 31.6485, Longitude: -100.0463    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025