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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 Silver Valley (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 Silver Valley. 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 Silver Valley ...

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.

For example, a typical abbreviation for Silver Valley: Silver Vly. (or less commonly used: Silver Vally. or Silver Vlly.)

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Silver Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Silver Valley.

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 northeast 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 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.

Silver Valley is located in Coleman 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 Coleman County: Brown, Callahan, Concho, McCulloch, Runnels & Taylor.

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

  • Coleman County     (The home county of Silver Valley)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Silver Valley, with the one closest to Silver Valley listed first.
    • Novice
      (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
    • Glen Cove
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
      • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
    • Goldsboro
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Coleman
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Valera
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
    • Talpa
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Burkett
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
    • Santa Anna
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
    • Voss
      (23 miles [37 km] to the south)
    • Gouldbusk
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
  • Brown County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Silver Valley, with the one closest to Silver Valley listed first.
    • Fry ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
      • Fry is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fry
    • Cross Cut
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
      • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
    • Bangs
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Callahan County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Silver Valley, with the one closest to Silver Valley listed first.
    • Denton
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the north)
      • Denton is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Denton
      • Denton has also been known as:
      • Denton Valley
    • Rowden
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Rowden is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rowden
    • Cross Plains
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
    • Eula
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Eula is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eula
    • Belle Plain ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Belle Plain is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Plain
    • Cottonwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
  • Runnels County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Silver Valley, with the one closest to Silver Valley listed first.
    • Winters
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
    • Ballinger
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Taylor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Silver Valley, with the one closest to Silver Valley listed first.
    • Lawn
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Ovalo
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
    • Guion
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
      • Guion is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guion
    • Tuscola
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Potosi
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
      • Potosi is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Potosi
    • Buffalo Gap
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Buffalo Gap is located in Taylor County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buffalo Gap
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 582 people

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

Cemeteries Near Silver Valley ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Silver Valley.

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 Silver Valley - one of the links might be able to help.

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

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

  • Silver Valley Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the north)
  • Ray Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ray Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Ray Cemetery is located 10 miles [16.1 km]<2> to the northwest of Coleman.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #2332327 <3>
  • Mt. View Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the southeast)
  • Rough Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Rough Creek Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Atoka Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Glen Cove Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Midway Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Herring Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Walker Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Crews Cemetery
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Crews Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Crews Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 12 miles [19.3 km]<2> to the east of Winters.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #3114 <3>
  • Coleman Cemetery
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (47 more) ...
    • Old Valera Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
    • Counts Cemetery
      (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
    • Talpa Cemetery
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)

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>

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

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

  • Novice
    (5 miles [8 km] to the northwest)
  • Glen Cove
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
    • Glen Cove is located in Coleman County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glen Cove
  • Coleman
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Valera
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
  • Talpa
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Santa Anna
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Burkett
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Guion
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Guion is located in Taylor County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Guion
  • Cross Cut
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
    • Cross Cut is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cross Cut
  • Winters
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
  • Cross Plains
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Thrifty
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
    • Thrifty is located in Brown County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thrifty
  • Continue List   (7 more) ...
    • Cottonwood
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Cottonwood is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottonwood
    • Belle Plain ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Belle Plain is located in Callahan County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Plain
    • Ballinger
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)

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

Newspapers Published in Silver Valley ...

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 23 newspapers that have been published in the area around Silver Valley.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Silver Valley, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<2>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Silver Valley.

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 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 Silver Valley:

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 obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Silver Valley) 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 Silver Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.