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 Smith (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 Smith. 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 southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Smith is located in Bell 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 Bell County: Burnet, Coryell, Falls, Lampasas, McLennan, Milam & Williamson.
Below are the counties that are near Smith. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Smith:
- Bell County (The home county of Smith)
- The following are listed by their distance from Smith, with the one closest to Smith listed first.
- Temple
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Heidenheimer
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Little River Academy
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Little River Academy is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little River Academy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,048 people
- Little River
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Academy
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Academy is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Academy
- Belton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Oenaville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Oenaville is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oenaville
- Sparks
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Sparks is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sparks
- Pendleton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Morgan's Point Resort
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
- Troy
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Rogers
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Cyclone
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Cyclone is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyclone
- Coryell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smith, with the one closest to Smith listed first.
- The Grove
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- The Grove is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Grove
- Mason Crossing ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
- Mason Crossing is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason Crossing
- Flat
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Leon Junction
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
- Lime City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Lime City is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime City
- McGregor
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Oglesby
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
- Mound
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Comanche Village I
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Comanche Village I is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Village I
- Comanche Village II
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the west)
- Comanche Village II is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Village II
- Saint Elijah Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Saint Elijah Village is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Elijah Village
- Comanche Village III
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Comanche Village III is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Comanche Village III
- Montague Village
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
- Montague Village is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Montague Village
- Falls County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smith, with the one closest to Smith listed first.
- Barclay
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Barclay is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barclay
- Westphalia
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)
- Westphalia is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westphalia
- Blevins
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Blevins is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blevins
- Durango
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
- Durango is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durango
- Zipperlandville ‑ Historic
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Zipperlandville is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Zipperlandville
- Zipperlandville has also been known as:
- Zipperlen
- Zipperlenville
- Bruceville - Eddy
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Bruceville - Eddy is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruceville - Eddy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,704 people
- Lott
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mooreville
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mooreville is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooreville
- Rosebud
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Chilton
(23 miles [37 km] to the northeast)
- North Prairie
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
- North Prairie is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Prairie
- Golinda
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- Golinda is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golinda
- Population from the 2020 Census: 610 people
- Satin
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the northeast)
- McLennan County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smith, with the one closest to Smith listed first.
- Eddy
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Moody
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the north)
- Bruceville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Lorena
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Lorena is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorena
- Hewitt
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Rosenthal
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
- Rosenthal is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosenthal
- Milam County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smith, with the one closest to Smith listed first.
- Val Verde
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Val Verde is located in Milam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Val Verde
- Buckholts
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Davilla
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Burlington
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Silver City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the east)
- Silver City is located in Milam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Silver City
- Cameron
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Tracy
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
- Tracy is located in Milam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tracy
- Marlow
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Marlow is located in Milam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Marlow
- Minerva
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southeast)
- Minerva is located in Milam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Minerva
- Baileyville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the east)
- Baileyville is located in Milam County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Baileyville
- Williamson County
- The following are listed by their distance from Smith, with the one closest to Smith listed first.
- Schwertner
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Jarrell
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
- Friendship ‑ Historic
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Friendship is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Friendship
- Granger
(23 miles [37 km] to the south)
- Laneport
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the south)
- Laneport is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laneport
- Walburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Hoxie
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
- Hoxie is located in Williamson County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hoxie
- Weir
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the southwest)
- Florence
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Smith, see our County-by-County Page for Smith.
Cemeteries Near Smith ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Smith.
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 Smith - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Smith covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Smith, with the one closest to Smith listed first.
- Greathouse Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Taylors Valley Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Little Flock Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Little Flock Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Little Flock Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located 3 miles [4.8 km]<3> to the southeast of Temple.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4866 <2>
- Ferguson Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lancaster Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Hillcrest Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillcrest Cemetery
- The Hillcrest Cemetery has also been known as:
- Temple City Cemetery
- Hill Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Hill Cemetery is located outside and to the east of Belton.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #4232 <2>
- Little River Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Wedel Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- East Belton Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Dyess Grove Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- Continue List (232 more) ...
- North Belton Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- South Belton Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Allen Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 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>
While we didn't find Smith in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Smith.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Smith, with the one closest to Smith listed first.
- Heidenheimer
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Temple
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)
- Little River
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Belton
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
- Seaton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
- Seaton is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Seaton
- Oenaville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Oenaville is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oenaville
- Pendleton
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Troy
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
- Rogers
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Belfalls
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Belfalls is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belfalls
- Salado
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Holland
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)
- Continue List (16 more) ...
- Cyclone
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Cyclone is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyclone
- Ocker
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Ocker is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocker
- Moffat
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Moffat is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffat
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Smith. See our List of 1890's Communities around Smith.
Newspapers Published in Smith ...
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 70 newspapers that have been published in the area around Smith.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Smith, there are papers which were published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<3>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Smith.
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 Smith:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to Bell County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Coryell County
- Falls County
- McLennan County
- Milam County
- Williamson County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Texas
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 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. |
| <3> | 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 drawn from Point A (ie- Smith) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |
| <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 Smith, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |