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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 Strawn (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 Strawn. 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 hospitals and doctors 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.

Strawn is located in Palo Pinto 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 Palo Pinto County: Eastland, Erath, Hood, Jack, Parker, Stephens & Young.

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

  • Palo Pinto County     (The home county of Strawn)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Strawn, with the one closest to Strawn listed first.
    • Mingus
      (4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mingus have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mingus
      • Mingus is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 256 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mingus <2>
    • Gordon
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Santo
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Palo Pinto
      (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palo Pinto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palo Pinto
      • Palo Pinto is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palo Pinto <2>
    • Brazos
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Graford
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Graford have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graford
      • Graford is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 631 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Graford <2>
    • Mineral Wells
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mineral Wells have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mineral Wells
      • Mineral Wells is located in Palo Pinto County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 15,219 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mineral Wells <2>
  • Comanche County
  • Eastland County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Strawn, with the one closest to Strawn listed first.
    • Ranger
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ranger. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranger
      • Ranger is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,354 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ranger <2>
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Ranger
      • From Strawn to Ranger
    • Olden
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Desdemona
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
    • Eastland
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
    • Kokomo
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southwest)
    • Gorman
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gorman have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gorman
      • Gorman is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,033 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Gorman <2>
    • Mangum ‑ Historic
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mangum have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mangum
      • Mangum is located in Eastland County
    • Carbon
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Carbon have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carbon
      • Carbon is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 276 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carbon <2>
    • Cisco
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Cisco have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cisco
      • Cisco is located in Eastland County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,850 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Cisco <2>
  • Erath County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Strawn, with the one closest to Strawn listed first.
    • Thurber
      (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Hannibal
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hannibal. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
      • Hannibal is located in Erath County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Hannibal
      • From Strawn to Hannibal
    • Lingleville
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lingleville have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lingleville
      • Lingleville is located in Erath County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lingleville <2>
    • Morgan Mill
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Morgan Mill have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Morgan Mill
      • Morgan Mill is located in Erath County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Morgan Mill <2>
    • Bunyan
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the south)
    • Stephenville
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Hood County
    • Lipan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lipan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lipan
      • Lipan is located in Hood County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 501 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lipan <2>
  • Stephens County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Strawn, with the one closest to Strawn listed first.
    • La Casa ‑ Historic
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
    • Caddo
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
    • Necessity
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
    • Wayland
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Wayland. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wayland
      • Wayland is located in Stephens County
      • Google driving directions:
      • From your current location to Wayland
      • From Strawn to Wayland
    • Gunsight ‑ Historic
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Breckenridge
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Breckenridge have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Breckenridge
      • Breckenridge is located in Stephens County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,400 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Breckenridge <2>

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

Cemeteries Near Strawn ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Strawn.

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

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

  • Mt. Marion Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Mt. Marion Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Mt. Marion Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Hutchins Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Hutchins Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Hutchins Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Davidson Cemetery
    (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Davidson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Davidson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Guest Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Guest Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Guest Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Thurber Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Thurber Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Thurber Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • McSpadden Cemetery
    (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the McSpadden Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the McSpadden Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Tudor Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Tudor Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Tudor Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • New Gordon Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the New Gordon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the New Gordon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Fox Mtn. Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Fox Mtn. Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Fox Mtn. Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Smith Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Smith Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Smith Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Old Gordon Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Old Gordon Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Old Gordon Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Gibson Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Gibson Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Gibson Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (114 more) ...
    • Doty Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Doty Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Doty Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Swank Cemetery
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Swank Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Swank Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Johnson Vault
      (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Johnson Vault
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Johnson Vault have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.

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 Strawn had a population of 514 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Strawn had a population of 674 people.

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

  • Thurber
    (5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
  • Gordon
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
  • Tiffin
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tiffin have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tiffin
    • Tiffin is located in Eastland County
  • Ranger
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Ranger. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ranger
    • Ranger is located in Eastland County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,354 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ranger <2>
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Ranger
    • From Strawn to Ranger
  • La Casa ‑ Historic
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the west)
  • Hannibal
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hannibal. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hannibal
    • Hannibal is located in Erath County
    • Google driving directions:
    • From your current location to Hannibal
    • From Strawn to Hannibal
  • Caddo
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Santo
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Olden
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
  • Huckabay
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Huckabay have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Huckabay
    • Huckabay is located in Erath County
  • Palo Pinto
    (18 miles [29 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palo Pinto have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palo Pinto
    • Palo Pinto is located in Palo Pinto County
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palo Pinto <2>
  • Desdemona
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
  • Continue List   (14 more) ...

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Strawn ...

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 71 newspapers that have been published in the area around Strawn.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Strawn. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Strawn and those printed in the larger area surrounding Strawn.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 30 miles [48.3 km]<5> of Strawn.

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 Strawn:

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

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

Footnotes ...

<1>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.
<2>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<3>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.
<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 Strawn, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<5>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores obstructions like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Strawn) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Strawn. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.5512, Longitude: -98.4981    









 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025