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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 Shaws Bend (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 Shaws Bend. 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.

Name Variations for Shaws Bend ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

  • A typical abbreviation for Shaws Bend: Shaws Bnd.
  • While the name of this community is Shaws Bend, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Shaws Bend may originally have been Shaw's Bend.

    Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Shaws Bend might be written as Shaw Bend.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

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 and doctors 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.

Shaws Bend is located in Colorado 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 Colorado County: Austin, Fayette, Lavaca & Wharton.

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

  • Colorado County     (The home county of Shaws Bend)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Bend, with the one closest to Shaws Bend listed first.
    • Hillcrest
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest
      • Hillcrest is located in Colorado County
    • Glidden
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glidden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glidden
      • Glidden is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glidden <3>
    • Borden
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden
      • Borden is located in Colorado County
    • Columbus
      (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Weimar
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
    • Alleyton
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Frelsburg
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frelsburg
      • Frelsburg is located in Colorado County
    • New Bielau ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Bielau have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Bielau
      • New Bielau is located in Colorado County
    • Pisek ‑ Historic
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Pisek have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pisek
      • Pisek is located in Colorado County
    • Rock Island
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rock Island have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Island
      • Rock Island is located in Colorado County
    • Oakland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Altair
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altair have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altair
      • Altair is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altair <3>
  • Austin County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Bend, with the one closest to Shaws Bend listed first.
    • New Ulm
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
    • Industry
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Industry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Industry
      • Industry is located in Austin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 326 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Industry <3>
    • Shelby
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Shelby have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shelby
      • Shelby is located in Austin County
    • Cat Spring
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cat Spring have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cat Spring
      • Cat Spring is located in Austin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cat Spring <3>
    • Bleiblerville
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bleiblerville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleiblerville
      • Bleiblerville is located in Austin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bleiblerville <3>
    • Millheim
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millheim have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millheim
      • Millheim is located in Austin County
    • Rexville ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rexville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rexville
      • Rexville is located in Austin County
    • Bellville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
    • Sealy
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sealy have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sealy
      • Sealy is located in Austin County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,443 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sealy <3>
    • Kenney
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kenney have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenney
      • Kenney is located in Austin County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kenney <3>
    • New Wehdem
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Wehdem have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Wehdem
      • New Wehdem is located in Austin County
  • Fayette County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Bend, with the one closest to Shaws Bend listed first.
    • Ellinger
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Fayetteville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fayetteville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayetteville
      • Fayetteville is located in Fayette County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fayetteville <3>
    • Dubina ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dubina have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dubina
      • Dubina is located in Fayette County
    • Joiner
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joiner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joiner
      • Joiner is located in Fayette County
    • Halsted
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Halsted
      • Halsted is located in Fayette County
    • Schulenburg
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Roznov
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roznov
      • Roznov is located in Fayette County
    • Rutersville
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rutersville
      • Rutersville is located in Fayette County
    • Hostyn
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hostyn
      • Hostyn is located in Fayette County
    • La Grange
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
    • Freyburg
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Freyburg have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Freyburg
      • Freyburg is located in Fayette County
    • Warrenton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
  • Lavaca County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Bend, with the one closest to Shaws Bend listed first.
    • Hackberry ‑ Historic
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hackberry have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hackberry
      • Hackberry is located in Lavaca County
    • Sublime
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sublime have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sublime
      • Sublime is located in Lavaca County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sublime <3>
    • Moravia
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moravia
      • Moravia is located in Lavaca County
    • Breslau
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breslau
      • Breslau is located in Lavaca County
    • Komensky
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Komensky
      • Komensky is located in Lavaca County
    • Hallettsville
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Washington County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Bend, with the one closest to Shaws Bend listed first.
    • Wesley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wesley
      • Wesley is located in Washington County
    • La Bahia
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Bahia
      • La Bahia is located in Washington County
    • Burton
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the north)
  • Wharton County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Shaws Bend, with the one closest to Shaws Bend listed first.
    • Lissie
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Bonus
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bonus
      • Bonus is located in Wharton County

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

Newspapers Published in Shaws Bend ...

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 67 newspapers that have been published in the area around Shaws Bend.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Shaws Bend, there are papers which were published within 28 miles [45.1 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Shaws Bend.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with 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 Shaws Bend:

Cemeteries Near Shaws Bend ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Shaws Bend.

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

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

  • Fitzgerald Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fitzgerald Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fitzgerald Cemetery
  • Grace Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Grace Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Grace Cemetery
  • Brune Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the east)
  • Boetcher Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Boetcher Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Boetcher Cemetery
  • Shaws Bend Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Borden Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
  • Halyard Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Gay Hill Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gay Hill Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gay Hill Cemetery
  • Adkins Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Ijams Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
  • Shepard Memorial Park
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Old Osage Cemetery
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Osage Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Osage Cemetery
  • Continue List   (208 more) ...

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.<6>

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

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

  • Borden
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Borden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Borden
    • Borden is located in Colorado County
  • Glidden
    (4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glidden have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glidden
    • Glidden is located in Colorado County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glidden <3>
  • Columbus
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Ellinger
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Alleyton
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Frelsburg
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Frelsburg
    • Frelsburg is located in Colorado County
  • Fayetteville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fayetteville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fayetteville
    • Fayetteville is located in Fayette County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 257 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Fayetteville <3>
  • Dubina ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dubina have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dubina
    • Dubina is located in Fayette County
  • Mentz
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mentz have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mentz
    • Mentz is located in Colorado County
  • New Ulm
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Joiner
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Joiner have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Joiner
    • Joiner is located in Fayette County
  • Ammannsville
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ammannsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ammannsville
    • Ammannsville is located in Fayette County
  • Continue List   (13 more) ...
    • Oakland
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Altair
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Altair have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Altair
      • Altair is located in Colorado County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Altair <3>
    • Ramsey
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Ramsey have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ramsey
      • Ramsey is located in Colorado County

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

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties).
<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>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<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- Shaws Bend) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Shaws Bend. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 29.7366, Longitude: -96.6397       In this case, the coordinates for Shaws Bend have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).
<5>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.
<6>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 Shaws Bend, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024