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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 Sweetwater (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 Sweetwater. 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 Sweetwater ...

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.

Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might have occurred.

Another variation: Sweet Water.

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 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.

Sweetwater is located in Nolan County and is the County Seat.

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 Nolan County: Coke, Fisher, Jones, Mitchell, Runnels, Scurry & Taylor.

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

  • Nolan County     (The home county of Sweetwater)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
    • Avenger Village
      (2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Avenger Village have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Avenger Village
      • Avenger Village is located in Nolan County
    • Roscoe
      (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
    • Wastella ‑ Historic
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wastella have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wastella
      • Wastella is located in Nolan County
    • Maryneal
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Maryneal have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Maryneal
      • Maryneal is located in Nolan County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Maryneal <2>
    • Nolan
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nolan have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nolan
      • Nolan is located in Nolan County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nolan <2>
    • Hylton
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hylton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hylton
      • Hylton is located in Nolan County
  • Coke County
    • Blackwell
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the south)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Blackwell have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Blackwell
      • Blackwell is located in Coke County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 311 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Blackwell <2>
  • Fisher County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
    • Capitola
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Capitola
      • Capitola is located in Fisher County
    • Claytonville
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Claytonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claytonville
      • Claytonville is located in Fisher County
    • Roby
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roby
      • Roby is located in Fisher County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roby <2>
    • Sylvester
      (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Sylvester have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sylvester
      • Sylvester is located in Fisher County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sylvester <2>
    • Royston
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Royston
      • Royston is located in Fisher County
    • McCaulley
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for McCaulley have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCaulley
      • McCaulley is located in Fisher County
    • Hobbs
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
      • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hobbs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbs
      • Hobbs is located in Fisher County
    • Rotan
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the north)
  • Jones County
    • Stith
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stith
      • Stith is located in Jones County
  • Mitchell County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
    • Loraine
      (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loraine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loraine
      • Loraine is located in Mitchell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 567 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loraine <2>
    • Buford
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buford
      • Buford is located in Mitchell County
    • Colorado City
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Colorado City have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Colorado City
      • Colorado City is located in Mitchell County
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,875 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Colorado City <2>
  • Scurry County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
    • Hermleigh
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
    • Dunn
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the west)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dunn have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dunn
      • Dunn is located in Scurry County
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dunn <2>
  • Taylor County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Sweetwater, with the one closest to Sweetwater listed first.
    • Trent
      (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
    • Merkel
      (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
    • Mount Pleasant
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the east)
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Mount Pleasant have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Pleasant
      • Mount Pleasant is located in Taylor County

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

Cemeteries Near Sweetwater ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Sweetwater.

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

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

  • Sweetwater Cemetery
    (Less than 2 miles to the southwest)
  • Garden of memories Cemetery
    (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Garden of memories Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Garden of memories Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Coffee Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Coffee Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Coffee Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Roscoe Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Roscoe Cemetery
    • To give a relative sense of its location, the Roscoe Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the northeast of Roscoe.
    • Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #6455 <4>
  • Palava Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Round Mountain Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Champion Cemetery
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Nolan Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Claytonville Cemetery
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
  • Wallace Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Wallace Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Wallace Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Maryneal Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Maryneal Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Maryneal Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Slater Chapel Cemetery
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Slater Chapel Cemetery
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Slater Chapel Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Continue List   (32 more) ...
    • White Church Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the White Church Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the White Church Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Trent Cemetery
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Trent Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Trent Cemetery have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Dora Cemetery
      (18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for the Dora Cemetery
      • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for the Dora Cemetery 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.<5>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Sweetwater had a population of 614 people in 1895 with a post office and railroad service. In 2020, Sweetwater had a population of 10,535 people.

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

  • Roscoe
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
  • Eskota
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Eskota have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eskota
    • Eskota is located in Fisher County
  • Claytonville
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Claytonville. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Claytonville
    • Claytonville is located in Fisher County
  • Trent
    (16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)
  • Loraine
    (18 miles [29 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Loraine have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loraine
    • Loraine is located in Mitchell County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 567 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Loraine <2>
  • Roby
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Roby have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roby
    • Roby is located in Fisher County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 613 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Roby <2>
  • Fisher
    (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Fisher have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fisher
    • Fisher is located in Fisher County
  • Merkel
    (23 miles [37 km] to the east)
  • Hobbs
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northwest)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hobbs. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hobbs
    • Hobbs is located in Fisher County
  • Hylton
    (26 miles [41.8 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Hylton. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<3>
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hylton
    • Hylton is located in Nolan County
  • Neinda
    (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Neinda have been provided by the GNIS.<1> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neinda
    • Neinda is located in Jones County

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

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Sweetwater ...

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 24 newspapers that have been published in the area around Sweetwater.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Sweetwater. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Sweetwater and those printed in the larger area surrounding Sweetwater.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 26 miles [41.8 km]<6> of Sweetwater.

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 Sweetwater:

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Sweetwater. 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>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.
<5>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 Sweetwater, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.
<6>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 drawn from Point A (ie- Sweetwater) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sweetwater. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 32.4674, Longitude: -100.4102       In this case, the coordinates for Sweetwater have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025