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The Commemorative Quarter for Texas





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 Simms (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 Simms. 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.

Simms is located in Deaf Smith 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 Deaf Smith County: Curry (NM), Quay (NM), Castro, Oldham, Parmer & Randall.

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

  • Deaf Smith County     (The home county of Simms)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Simms, with the one closest to Simms listed first.
    • La Plata ‑ Historic
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for La Plata. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Plata
      • La Plata is located in Deaf Smith County
    • Hereford
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
    • Glenrio ‑ Historic
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenrio have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenrio
      • Glenrio is located in Deaf Smith County
    • Dawn
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawn
      • Dawn is located in Deaf Smith County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawn <2>
  • Castro County
    • Summerfield
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Summerfield have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerfield
      • Summerfield is located in Castro County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summerfield <2>
  • Oldham County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Simms, with the one closest to Simms listed first.
    • Adrian
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Adrian have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Adrian
      • Adrian is located in Oldham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 171 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Adrian <2>
    • Boise ‑ Historic
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Boise have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Boise
      • Boise is located in Oldham County
    • Vega
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Vega have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vega
      • Vega is located in Oldham County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 933 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vega <2>
    • Wildorado
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wildorado have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wildorado
      • Wildorado is located in Oldham County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wildorado <2>
  • Parmer County
    • Friona
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Friona have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friona
      • Friona is located in Parmer County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,774 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Friona <2>
  • Curry County (NM)
    • Bellview
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bellview
      • Bellview is located in Curry County (NM)
  • Quay County (NM)
    • Glenrio ‑ Historic
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Glenrio have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glenrio
      • Glenrio is located in Quay County (NM)
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glenrio <2>

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

Newspapers Published in Simms ...

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 19 newspapers that have been published in the area around Simms.

Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Simms, 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 Simms.

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 websites either 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 Simms:

Cemeteries Near Simms ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Simms.

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

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

  • Old La Plata Grave
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for the Old La Plata Grave. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old La Plata Grave
  • Rest Lawn Memorial Park
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Rest Lawn Memorial Park is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the north of Hereford.
    • The Rest Lawn Memorial Park has also been known as:
    • Rest Lawn Cemetery
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Rest Lawn Memorial Park
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #6324 <5>
  • Memorial Park
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Memorial Park have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Memorial Park
  • West Park Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • St. Anthony's Cemetery
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
  • Mitchel Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mitchel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mitchel Cemetery
  • Palo Duro Wildorado Cemetery
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
  • Endee Cemetery
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)

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

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

  • La Plata ‑ Historic
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for La Plata. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<1>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Plata
    • La Plata is located in Deaf Smith County
  • Endee ‑ Historic
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Endee have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Endee
    • Endee is located in Quay County (NM)
  • Dawn
    (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dawn have been provided by the GNIS.<3> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dawn
    • Dawn is located in Deaf Smith County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dawn <2>

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

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<4>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Simms) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Simms. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 35.0334, Longitude: -102.6577       In this case, the coordinates for Simms 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 Simms, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 07 Apr 2024