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 Spring 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 Spring 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 Spring 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 Spring Valley: Spring Vly. (or less commonly used: Spring Vally. or Spring Vlly.)
You might be interested in other communities that are also named Spring Valley. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Spring 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 northwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. 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 west 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.
Spring Valley is located in McLennan 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 McLennan County: Bell, Bosque, Coryell, Falls, Hill & Limestone.
Below are the counties that are near Spring Valley. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Spring Valley:
- McLennan County (The home county of Spring Valley)
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Lorena
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Lorena is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lorena
- Hewitt
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Bruceville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Woodway
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Eddy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Moody
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Rosenthal
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Rosenthal is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosenthal
- Speegleville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Speegleville is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speegleville
- Beverly Hills
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Beverly Hills is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beverly Hills
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,980 people
- Robinson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Crawford
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Downsville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Downsville is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Downsville
- Waco
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Waco is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waco
- Population from the 2020 Census: 141,377 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Waco <1>
- Bell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Pendleton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Troy
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the south)
- Moffat
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Moffat is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Moffat
- Oenaville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- Oenaville is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oenaville
- Morgan's Point Resort
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
- Temple
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Ocker
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the south)
- Ocker is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ocker
- Brookhaven
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southwest)
- Brookhaven is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookhaven
- Belton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
- Cyclone
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Cyclone is located in Bell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cyclone
- Heidenheimer
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
- Little River Academy
(28 miles [45.1 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
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the south)
- Bosque County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Valley Mills
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the northwest)
- Greenock
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Greenock is located in Bosque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Greenock
- Cayote
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Cayote is located in Bosque County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cayote
- Coryell County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- McGregor
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Lime City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- Lime City is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lime City
- Oglesby
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
- The Grove
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- The Grove is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for The Grove
- Leon Junction
(18 miles [29 km] to the west)
- Mound
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the west)
- Coryell
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Coryell is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Coryell
- Flat
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- South Mountain
(23 miles [37 km] to the west)
- South Mountain is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Mountain
- Population from the 2020 Census: 367 people
- Fort Gates
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the west)
- Fort Gates is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fort Gates
- Gatesville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Mason Crossing ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the southwest)
- Mason Crossing is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason Crossing
- Turnersville
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
- Turnersville is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Turnersville
- Falls County
- The following are listed by their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Bruceville - Eddy
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Bruceville - Eddy is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bruceville - Eddy
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,704 people
- Mooreville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mooreville is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooreville
- Golinda
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Golinda is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golinda
- Population from the 2020 Census: 610 people
- North Prairie
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- North Prairie is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Prairie
- Blevins
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Blevins is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blevins
- Satin
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
- Chilton
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
- Durango
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
- Durango is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Durango
- Lott
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the southeast)
- Westphalia
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southeast)
- Westphalia is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westphalia
- Perry
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Marlin
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the east)
- Barclay
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
- Barclay is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Barclay
- Hill County
- Tyson
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
- Tyson is located in Hill County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tyson
- Limestone County
- Watt
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Watt is located in Limestone County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Watt
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Spring Valley, see our County-by-County Page for Spring Valley.
Cemeteries Near Spring Valley ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Spring 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 Spring Valley - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Spring Valley covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- Horne Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Lorena Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)
- Perry Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Cox Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Moore Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Alexander Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Naler Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Lawson Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Evergreen Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Mt. Zion Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
- Chapel Hill Memorial Park
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Whitehall Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (192 more) ...
- McLennan Cemetery
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Waco Memorial Park
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- Comanche Springs Cemetery
(9 miles [14.5 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.<3>
While we didn't find Spring Valley in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Spring Valley.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Spring Valley, with the one closest to Spring Valley listed first.
- South Bosque
(5 miles [8 km] to the north)
- South Bosque is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bosque
- Bruceville
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southeast)
- Hewitt
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ritchie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Ritchie is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ritchie
- Moody
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Eddy
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- McGregor
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Whitson
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Whitson is located in Coryell County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitson
- Mooreville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Mooreville is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mooreville
- Rosenthal
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Rosenthal is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rosenthal
- Robinson
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Speegleville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the north)
- Speegleville is located in McLennan County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Speegleville
- Continue List (13 more) ...
- Golinda
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the east)
- Golinda is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golinda
- Population from the 2020 Census: 610 people
- Crawford
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
- Blevins
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)
- Blevins is located in Falls County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blevins
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Spring Valley. See our List of 1890's Communities around Spring Valley.
Newspapers Published in Spring 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 42 newspapers that have been published in the area around Spring Valley.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Spring Valley, there are papers which were published within 29 miles [46.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Spring Valley.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first visit 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 Spring Valley:
- Websites specific to Texas
- Pages specific to McLennan County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Bell County
- Bosque County
- Coryell County
- Falls County
- Hill County
- Limestone 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> | 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 Spring Valley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or 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- Spring Valley) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |